Latest news with #JohnThune
Yahoo
11 minutes ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Some in GOP Push to Save Biden Programs in ‘Big Beautiful Bill'
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, far right, accompanied by other Republican Senators, speaks to reporters following a weekly GOP policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, on June 3, 2025. Credit - Andrew Harnik—Getty Images This article is part of The D.C. Brief, TIME's politics newsletter. Sign up here to get stories like this sent to your inbox. It's been three years since Democrats passed the Inflation Reduction Act without the support of any Republicans. That includes the 14 House Republicans who signed a letter last month asking GOP leadership to please tweak plans to kill the IRA's clean-energy incentives in the mega-bill they are shepherding for Donald Trump. While much of the talk in Washington right now is about pitfalls aplenty in Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill, the rollback of Biden-era clean-energy efforts is getting scant attention. Yet many voters are likely to notice the fallout from those changes, particularly in swing districts that will decide control of the House next year. Take the districts those 14 House Republicans represent. Thirteen of them voted for the House bill (Rep. Andrew Garbarino of New York missed the vote) despite provisions that could mean the loss of $40 billion in investment and 43,000 jobs in their districts collectively, according to a report from the nonpartisan Rhodium Group, which publishes quarterly updates on green jobs. Nationally, the rollbacks threaten 830,000 jobs connected to clean-energy projects. Despite the economic downsides, GOP leaders are moving ahead with a tax-and-spending bill that would wind down tax credits for cleaner cars like electric vehicles by the end of this year, scrap incentives for battery makers by 2028, and levy a new annual fee on drivers who opt into lower-emission vehicles (purportedly to replace lost gasoline taxes). At the same time, clean-energy manufacturers would see their tax credits go dark by 2031, and lower-emissions energy projects like wind, nuclear, and solar would lose their incentives in 2032. Across the country, job-creating projects currently in development would no longer make economic sense. While Elon Musk, the billionaire former White House budget adviser, is complaining about the bill's price tag—calling it 'a disgusting abomination'—less-MAGA conversant Republicans are quietly raising their own parochial worries. The numbers are real. For instance, in Rep. Jen Kiggans' Virginia district, which is based in the Hampton Roads region, about $11.3 billion in funding is at risk. That means about 2,005 jobs, an estimate based on announced projects that were not yet online as of March 31, the end of the first quarter of the year. Kiggans has been out front urging changes to the work her fellow Republicans have been doing, organizing the letter to colleagues asking they tweak their repeal language to give more flexibility on projects. 'We appreciate the Ways and Means Committee putting America first by investing in American energy dominance, but the last thing any of us want is to provoke an energy crisis or cause higher energy bills for working families,' they wrote on May 14. These lawmakers have already seen the upside from the three-year-old incentives. In Rep. Mark Amodei's Nevada district, constituents were expecting a total of $15.2 billion in clean-energy investments, but $7.6 billion of that is pending and now at risk. In Rep. Dan Newhouse's Washington district, the expected $5.4 billion in clean investments could be $4.5 billion less under the new proposal. And the list goes on for district after district, from coast to coast. The full House passed Trump's tax cuts on May 22, and the White House is pushing the Senate to follow suit before the July 4 holiday. But Senate Republicans have signaled that they're going to shave off some of the parts of the House version they don't love, and there are plenty of signs that it's in more trouble than Trump appreciates. The sticking points drawing the most heat include work requirements and deep cuts to Medicaid, and the expected addition of trillions to the national debt. Democrats, for their part, are laying the groundwork to see Republicans blamed for any downsides, including an economic hit from the US opting out of a green energy boom. 'The clean-energy credits that were part of the Inflation Reduction Act actually have had a significant benefit in terms of economic activity all across the country, particularly in red states and congressional districts represented by Republicans,' Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said on Tuesday during his weekly session with Hill reporters. 'Standing up a clean-energy economy lowers energy costs, helps to protect the environment, and combats the climate crisis with the fierce urgency of now that is necessary, while at the same period of time creating jobs and generating economic activity. Republicans decided that they want to detonate these clean-energy credits.' So far, it's been a message that has started to reach some corners of Washington, which only now is starting to grasp what all was in Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill. The more lawmakers are looking, the more they're realizing their quest to unspool parts of the Biden legacy is threatening policies that might have been called 'pro-business' by some Trump allies—if only those ideas had originated with Republicans. Make sense of what matters in Washington. Sign up for the D.C. Brief newsletter. Write to Philip Elliott at
CBS News
22 minutes ago
- Business
- CBS News
As Musk ramps up attacks on Trump's "big, beautiful bill," Johnson says he's "flat wrong"
Washington — GOP leaders in Congress appeared undeterred Wednesday as Elon Musk ramped up his criticism of President Trump's "big, beautiful bill" with a barrage of posts slamming the measure, raising questions about whether Republicans can remain united around the centerpiece legislation of Mr. Trump's second-term agenda. In a post on X on Tuesday, Musk called the bill "outrageous" and "pork-filled," arguing that it's a "a disgusting abomination" and lambasting congressional Republicans for supporting it. The post was only the beginning of a slew of comments from Musk, who called for a new bill to be drafted on Wednesday as the onslaught continued. "KILL the BILL," Musk wrote on X Wednesday afternoon. House Speaker Mike Johnson pushed back on Musk's criticism Wednesday morning, telling reporters at his weekly press conference that "I think he's flat wrong." House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, April 10, 2025. Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg via Getty Images "I think he's way off on this," Johnson said, noting that he considers Musk a "friend" and arguing that "policy differences are not personal." The speaker told reporters later Wednesday that "we don't have time for a brand new bill." And he said he would continue to try to reach Musk after saying he didn't answer his call Tuesday. Johnson also noted that he had spoken with the president about Musk's reaction to the bill, saying Mr. Trump is "not delighted that Elon did a 180 on that." Across the Capitol, the Senate is now forging ahead on the legislation, which the House narrowly passed last month. Senate Majority Leader John Thune acknowledged to reporters Wednesday that Musk has "some influence," citing his social media following, but he downplayed the Tesla CEO's hold over Republicans in the upper chamber, saying that "at the end of the day, this is a 51-vote exercise here in the Senate." "I think we'll get there," Thune said. "There are going to be a lot of people who share commentary about this, and we've just got to make sure we're doing everything we can to get our arguments out there." Thune told CBS News on Wednesday morning that he hadn't yet spoken to Mr. Trump about Musk's criticism of the bill, but that they would have a chance to discuss "what we're doing to get the bill done" at a White House meeting with Finance Committee Republicans later Wednesday. The criticism from Musk comes almost six months after he successfully torpedoed a measure to fund the government in December, forcing lawmakers back to the drawing board. But this time around, with Musk having recently departed from his role as a Special Government Employee, the criticism has not had the same effect. "He certainly doesn't have the same sway," Sen. Kevin Cramer, a North Dakota Republican, told CBS News of Musk. GOP Sen. Markwayne Mullin, who previously represented Oklahoma in the House and has served as a messenger between the two chambers, told reporters "I don't know if it affects a lot." "I have all the respect in the world for Elon, all the respect in the world for him," Mullin said. "I also love my wife, and every now and then my wife and I disagree. And so sometimes people just have disagreements." Senate Republicans were gathered for their conference luncheon on Tuesday when Musk took to X to criticize the bill, prompting a handful of Senate Republicans to quickly voice their agreement, including Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, who had already expressed serious concerns that spending cuts don't go far enough. Other Republicans, like Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, voiced understanding for Musk's views on Wednesday. But she cast doubt on whether the criticism would sway her colleagues. "I think that those of us who share concerns that there are inadequate reductions in the bill knew that before Elon Musk said that," Lummis said. "Those who disagree with him disagreed before he said that. So I don't think it changed any views in the Republican Party in the Senate." Senate GOP leadership has already been contending with opposition from the fiscal hawks, along with a handful of other senators who oppose Medicaid restrictions, among other things. Key GOP senators have been conducting meetings in recent days to iron out the disagreement, with opposition from just four Senate Republicans enough to tank the bill. contributed to this report.
Bloomberg
5 hours ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Trump Bill Unlikely to Repeal Estate Tax, Senate Leader Says
Senate Republican Leader John Thune said President Donald Trump's giant fiscal bill is unlikely to repeal the estate tax. 'I'd love to get rid of it,' Thune told reporters Wednesday, adding that senators had considered repealing the tax. 'I don't think it's probably likely to happen here.'
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Senate Leader Thune Sees Changes for House SALT Deal
The deal that led to an increase of the maximum deduction for state and local taxes to $40,000 in the US House will have to be changed in the Senate, according to the office of Majority Leader John Thune. Several Republican senators have expressed concerns over the bill's cost as well as cuts to Medicaid and clean energy tax credits. Joshua Gallu reports on Bloomberg Television. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Worried House spending hawks could face moment of reckoning on Trump megabill
Conservative spending hawks in the House are worried about changes to the bill full of President Trump's priorities that Republicans in the Senate are eyeing — and they may soon face a moment of reckoning. Under heavy pressure from Trump and his MAGA base, GOP spending hawks held their noses and voted last month to move the bill through the House, hoping the Senate would shift the massive package closer to being deficit-neutral. Instead, the opposite is now expected to happen, as moderate GOP senators leery of the House Medicaid cuts and efforts to phase out green energy subsidies seek to restore some of those benefit programs, potentially making the bill even more costly than the House version. With just a slim Senate majority, GOP Leader John Thune (S.D.) will need the support of those moderates if he hopes to pass the bill. Such a scenario would confront House conservatives with an agonizing decision. If they stand on principle and oppose the package over deficit concerns, they would sink legislation that combines virtually all of Trump's domestic policy goals and campaign promises, including an immigration crackdown and sweeping tax cuts Republicans consider must-pass items. If they support the package to lend Trump a huge win, they would be voting to grow the same deficit spending they've characterized as an existential threat to the nation's future well-being. As the bill was sent to the Senate, Rep. Keith Self (R-Texas) said he almost had no choice but to support the package — 'This bill was so important, the tax cuts had to get through,' he said — while lamenting the deficit spending that will pile trillions of dollars onto the national debt for years to come. 'The deficit is going to remain at least where it is, I believe — the numbers show it. And that means that we're going from $36 trillion to $56 trillion, something like that, unless we get inordinate growth out of this bill, which I certainly hope that we do,' Self said. 'But the consequences of this bill will add to the debt. And if we don't get the bond market under control, then we're going to be paying a whole lot of money.' Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), a prominent spending hawk, was even more forceful, saying GOP senators 'can't unwind what we achieved' in the House or the bill would have a tough path upon its return to the lower chamber. 'And those are going to be red lines,' he warned. Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), the head of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, is voicing concerns that the House bill front-loads higher deficit spending in the first five years, pushing the steepest cuts to the final half of the 10-year spending window. He says that's a case of Congress punting the hard choices to the future — a grievance that's also been aired by Elon Musk, who had led Trump's efforts to slash government spending in the early months of his second term. 'I share Mr. Musk's concerns about the short-term adverse effect on the federal deficit,' Harris wrote on the social platform X last week. 'Debt markets remain concerned about US total debt and annual deficits.' Since then, the criticism has only ratcheted up. Musk, days out of his short tenure at the White House — a stretch where he was a near-constant figure beside Trump — trashed the bill on X Tuesday afternoon, calling it 'a disgusting abomination.' 'I'm sorry, but I just can't stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination,' Musk wrote. 'Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.' Rep. Thomas Massie (Ky.), one of two Republicans who voted against the bill in the House, piled on, writing: 'He's right.' Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has sought to ease the concerns within his own party, saying Tuesday that Musk's assessment is 'terribly wrong.' Johnson has insisted that the official scorekeepers at the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) — who have estimated the House bill will increase budget deficits by trillions of dollars over a decade — are wildly off base. When you consider economic growth that will accompany the tax cuts, he says, the bill 'is going to reduce the deficit.' 'The CBO sometimes gets projections correct, but they're always off every single time when they project economic growth,' Johnson said Sunday on NBC's 'Meet the Press.' Yet economists of all stripes have long disputed the notion that tax cuts pay for themselves, and House conservatives like Roy have taken their own leadership to task for claiming otherwise. Those voices blame both parties for creating the nation's debt, which is soon to hit $37 trillion. 'I sure hope the growth comes through, because we need the growth,' Self said. It remains unclear, however, if the House spending hawks will enforce their own red lines on deficit spending. Indeed, some suggested it's more important to rally behind the party. Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) said it 'bothers' him that Republicans are piling trillions of dollars onto the debt. But in the end, he said the tax cuts were too important to let expire, and he didn't want to give a win to Democrats — a group he characterizes as un-American. 'It was the right thing to do,' he said as the bill went to the Senate. 'At the end of the day, if you side with the left — it's a socialistic group that hates this country, to be honest with you.' The weighing of options among House deficit hawks comes as the Senate is getting its turn with the 'big, beautiful bill,' with Republicans eyeing a series of changes that could make or break support in the lower chamber when the measure returns. The deliberations feature similar divisions that accompanied the House debate: Hard-liners want steeper spending cuts, centrists are pushing to water down Medicaid changes, and those in the middle want a more calculated rollback of green-energy tax credits approved by Democrats in 2022. Johnson has publicly and privately urged his Senate counterparts to make as few changes as possible to the bill, underscoring the importance of maintaining the tenuous equilibrium of support in the House. Trump, however, has given the upper chamber full range, telling reporters last month: 'I want the Senate and the senators to make the changes they want. It will go back to the House and we'll see if we can get them.' 'In some cases, the changes may be something I'd agree with, to be honest,' he continued. 'I think it's going to get there. … I think they are going to have changes. Some will be minor, some will be fairly significant.' In the meantime, deficit hawks are focusing their attention on a package to claw back billions of dollars in federal funding, marking the chamber's first attempt at codifying the cuts made by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The White House sent the $9.4 billion measure — commonly referred to as a rescissions package — to the House on Tuesday. The package targets the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which supports NPR and PBS, in addition to the United States Agency for International Development — all of which were impacted by DOGE. Johnson is expected to move it through the chamber on a speedy timeline. Deficit hawks — especially those in the conservative House Freedom Caucus — are touting the legislation as a 'critical' step forward. But the just more than $9 billion price tag pales in comparison to the Trump agenda bill's multitrillion-dollar cost, underscoring how far they are from their deficit-neutrality goals. Despite the lingering debates, Johnson is still pushing the merits of the bill — and sticking with his July 4 deadline, even with a colossal amount of work to do. 'We have to pass this legislation,' Johnson said Tuesday. 'The Senate is doing some good, thoughtful, deliberative work right now, we're looking forward to moving it through the process, and the president is very much looking forward to signing that into law by Independence Day.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
