Latest news with #RepublicanBill
New York Times
a day ago
- Business
- New York Times
Democrats Hate Trump's Policy Bill, but Love Some of Its Tax Cuts
Democrats have no shortage of criticism for the massive Republican policy bill winding its way through Congress carrying President Trump's agenda. It would cost too much, they contend, rip health coverage and food assistance away from too many people and strip vital support from clean energy companies. When it comes to some of the tax cuts in the bill, however, Democrats have been less resistant. Some of them concede that they would support many of those provisions if they were not rolled into the larger piece of legislation. In recent weeks, they have taken pains to demonstrate that support. Last month, Senator Jacky Rosen, Democrat of Nevada, successfully moved to have the Senate unanimously approve a version of Mr. Trump's 'no tax on tips' proposal. While the effort was almost entirely symbolic — under the Constitution, the House must originate tax measures — it was still an opportunity for Democrats to go on the record backing a campaign promise of Mr. Trump's that is broadly popular with the public. 'I am not afraid to embrace a good idea, wherever it comes from,' Ms. Rosen said on the Senate floor at the time. The undercurrent of Democratic support for elements of the Republican tax agenda reflects the political potency of some of Mr. Trump's campaign promises, even those that have been derided by tax policy experts. It also suggests that temporary provisions in the Republican bill, like exempting tips and overtime pay from the income tax, could ultimately become long-term features of the tax code. And it helps to explain why Mr. Trump and Republicans chose to wrap their policy agenda into one huge bill. By pairing the palatable tax cuts — including an extension of tax cuts set to expire at the end of the year — with less savory measures, like Medicaid cuts, Republicans can make the political case that anyone who fails to support the bill is voting for a tax increase. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Reuters
5 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Trump says he is 'disappointed' by Musk's criticism of tax-cut bill
WASHINGTON, June 5 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump escalated his feud with billionaire Elon Musk on Thursday, telling reporters he was "disappointed" in Musk's public criticism of the Republican spending bill and saying he was unsure whether the two men would continue to have a great relationship. Trump also asserted that Musk's attacks on the bill were motivated by the legislation's proposed elimination of consumer tax credits for electric vehicles. Musk, the CEO of electric vehicle maker Tesla , has said he opposes the bill because it will increase federal deficits. "I'm very disappointed in Elon," Trump said in the Oval Office. "I've helped Elon a lot." As Trump was speaking, Musk wrote on X, "Slim Beautiful Bill for the win," a reference to the bill's official title, the "Big Beautiful Bill Act." Musk has been a powerful Trump ally, spending nearly $300 billion to boost Republicans in the 2024 election and then overseeing Trump's sweeping cost-cutting effort in the federal government. Shares of Tesla extended losses after Trump's criticism of Musk. The stock was lately down nearly 6%; it was off by 3% before Trump spoke.
New York Times
6 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
Republican Megabill Projected to Add $2.4 Trillion to Debt
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office announced today that the broad Republican bill to cut taxes and slash some federal programs would add $2.4 trillion to the already soaring national debt over the next decade. The analysis was all but certain to inflame intraparty tensions between fiscal conservatives and President Trump, who does not share the party's longstanding aversion to government debt. The bill, which was designed to enact the president's agenda, has already passed the House. But some Senate Republicans have vowed to oppose any legislation that, in their view, would lead to excessive government borrowing. Trump said that his critics were misguided and insufficiently loyal. His allies have sought to undermine the budget experts whose job it is to analyze the effects of legislation. The White House has argued that the tax cuts would lead to major economic growth, thus paying for themselves. The Joint Committee on Taxation, another nonpartisan office, disagrees. For more on the Republican bill: We made a list of everything included in the legislation, and how much each provision is expected to cost or save. One big talker in the bill: a proposal to stop taxing tips. Here's who it would benefit. Trump said that Putin would retaliate against Ukraine Trump said that Vladimir Putin told him during a phone call today that he planned to retaliate against Ukraine for its major drone attack. Trump described the call on Russia's war in Ukraine as 'a good conversation, but not a conversation that will lead to immediate peace.' He did not say whether he had tried to dissuade Putin. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
The Verge
7 days ago
- Business
- The Verge
Elon Musk calls Trump's budget bill a ‘disgusting abomination
Last week, Elon Musk's media tour included telling CBS Sunday Morning he was 'disappointed' by the Republican domestic policy bill backed by President Trump. Now, the former White House employee is calling it a 'disgusting abomination' and claiming that Congress is making America bankrupt in posts on X on Tuesday. Elon's problem isn't the provisions we noted that would strip state legislatures of AI oversight and scale back consumer protection and climate initiatives, while funding increased border surveillance. Instead, he claims, 'It will massively increase the already gigantic budget deficit to $2.5 trillion (!!!) and burden American citizens with crushingly unsustainable debt.' The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has reported that the bill's tax provisions would increase the deficit by $3.8 trillion over the next decade. Despite Musk continuing and threatening that 'In November next year, we fire all politicians who betrayed the American people,' the White House and other Republican political leaders have not shown much regard for his statements. In a briefing Tuesday afternoon, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters, '...look, the president already knows where Elon Musk stood on this bill. It doesn't change the president's opinion; this is one big beautiful bill, and he's sticking to it.' Democrats had a different response, as ABC News reports that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer held up a printout of Musk's tweets during his press conference following a policy luncheon. Schumer told reporters, 'Trump's buddy says the bill is bad -- you can imagine how bad this bill is,' while his counterpart in the House, Hakeem Jeffries, said, '...breaking news: Elon Musk and I agree with each other.' Politico reports that Speaker of the House Mike Johnson told reporters he spoke to Musk on Monday for about 20 minutes regarding the bill, and said, 'With all due respect, my friend Elon is terribly wrong about the one big, beautiful bill.' In the Senate, Republican Majority Leader John Thune told reporters, 'On this particular issue, we have a difference of opinion,' and that he believes Musk is using outdated data.
Fast Company
7 days ago
- Business
- Fast Company
Trump pushes Senate to pass his big tax bill by July 4
BY President Donald Trump wants his 'big, beautiful' bill of tax breaks and spending cuts on his desk to be signed into law by the Fourth of July, and he's pushing the slow-rolling Senate to make it happen sooner rather than later. Trump met with Senate Majority Leader John Thune at the White House early this week and has been dialing senators for one-on-one chats, using both the carrot and stick to nudge, badger and encourage them to act. But it's still a long road ahead for the 1,000-page-plus package. 'His question to me was, How do you think the bill's going to go in the Senate?' Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said about his call with Trump. 'Do you think there's going to be problems?' It's a potentially tumultuous three-week sprint for senators preparing to put their own imprint on the massive Republican package that cleared the House late last month by a single vote. The senators have been meeting for weeks behind closed doors, including as they returned to Washington late Monday, to revise the package ahead of what is expected to be a similarly narrow vote in the Senate. 'Passing THE ONE, BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL is a Historic Opportunity to turn our Country around,' Trump posted on social media. He urged them Monday 'to work as fast as they can to get this Bill to MY DESK before the Fourth of JULY.' Thune, like House Speaker Mike Johnson, has few votes to spare from the Senate's slim, 53-seat GOP majority. Democrats are waging an all-out political assault on GOP proposals to cut Medicaid, food stamps and green energy investments to help pay for more than $4.5 trillion in tax cuts — with many lawmakers being hammered at boisterous town halls back home. 'It'd be nice if we could have everybody on board to do it, but, you know, individual members are going to stake out their positions,' Thune said Tuesday. 'But in the end, we have to succeed. Failure's not an option. We've got to get to 51. So we'll figure out the path forward to do that over the next couple of weeks.' At its core, the package seeks to extend the tax cuts approved in 2017, during Trump's first term at the White House, and add new ones the presidents campaigned on, including no taxes on tips and others. It also includes a massive build-up of $350 billion for border security, deportations and national security. To defray the lost tax revenue to the government and avoid piling onto the nation's $36 trillion debt load, Republicans want reduce federal spending by imposing work requirements for some Americans who rely on government safety net services. Estimates are 8.6 million people would no longer have health care and nearly 4 million would lose Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program benefits, known as SNAP. The package also would raise the nation's debt limit by $4 trillion to allow more borrowing to pay the bills. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said Trump's bill 'is ugly to its very core.' Schumer said Tuesday it's a 'lie' that the cuts won't hurt Americans. 'Behind the smoke and mirrors lies a cruel and draconian truth: tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy paid for by gutting health care for millions of Americans,' said the New York senator. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office is expected to soon provide an overall analysis of the package's impacts on the government balance sheets, particular its rising annual deficits. But Republicans are ready to blast those findings from the congressional scorekeeper as flawed. Trump Tuesday switched to tougher tactics, deriding the holdout Republican senators to get on board. The president laid into Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, the libertarian-leaning deficit hawk who has made a career of arguing against government spending. Paul wants the package's $4 trillion increase to the debt ceiling out of the bill. 'Rand votes NO on everything, but never has any practical or constructive ideas. His ideas are actually crazy (losers!).' Trump posted. The July 4th deadline is not only aspirational for the president, it's all but mandatory for his Treasury Department. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has warned Congress that the nation will run out of money to pay its bills if the debt ceiling, now at $36 trillion, is not lifted by mid-July or early August to allow more borrowing. Bessent has also been meeting behind closed doors with senators and GOP leadership. Thune acknowledged Tuesday that lifting the debt ceiling is not up for debate. 'It's got to be done,' the South Dakota senator said. The road ahead is also a test for Thune who, like Johnson, is a newer leader in Congress and among the many Republicans adjusting their own priorities with Trump's return to the White House. While Johnson has warned against massive changes to the package, Thune faces demands from his senators for adjustments. To make most of the tax cuts permanent — particularly the business tax breaks that are the Senate priorities — senators may shave some of Trump's proposed new tax breaks on automobile loans or overtime pay, which are policies less prized by some senators. There are also discussions about altering the $40,000 cap that the House proposed for state and local deductions, known as SALT, which are important to lawmakers in high-tax New York, California and other states, but less so among GOP senators. 'We're having all those discussions,' said Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., another key voice in the debate. Hawley is a among a group of senators, including Maine Sen. Susan Collins and Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who have raised concerns about the Medicaid changes that could boot people from health insurance. A potential copay of up to $35 for Medicaid services that was part of the House package, as well as a termination of a provider tax that many states rely on to help fund rural hospitals, have also raised concerns. 'The best way to not be accused of cutting Medicaid is to not cut Medicaid,' Hawley said.
