Latest news with #UnitedStatesHouseofRepresentatives
Global News
2 days ago
- Business
- Global News
Speaker of U.S. House of Representatives downplays Musk's influence on Trump's tax and budget bill
With an uncharacteristically feistiness, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Mike Johnson took clear sides Sunday in President Donald Trump's breakup with mega-billionaire Elon Musk. The Republican House leader and staunch Trump ally said Musk's criticism of the GOP's massive tax and budget policy bill will not derail the measure, and he downplayed Musk's influence over the GOP-controlled Congress. 'I didn't go out to craft a piece of legislation to please the richest man in the world,' Johnson said on ABC's This Week. 'What we're trying to do is help hardworking Americans who are trying to provide for their families and make ends meet.' Johnson said he has exchanged text messages with Musk since the former chief of Trump's Department of Government Efficiency came out against the GOP bill. Musk called it an 'abomination' that would add to U.S. debts and threaten economic stability. He urged voters to flood Capitol Hill with calls to vote against the measure, which is pending in the Senate after clearing the House. His criticism sparked an angry social media back-and-forth with Trump, who told reporters over the weekend that he has no desire to repair his relationship with Musk. Story continues below advertisement The speaker was dismissive of Musk's threats to finance opponents — even Democrats — of Republican members who back Trump's bill. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'We've got almost no calls to the offices, any Republican member of Congress,' Johnson said. 'And I think that indicates that people are taking a wait and see attitude. Some who may be convinced by some of his arguments, but the rest understand: this is a very exciting piece of legislation.' Johnson argued that Musk still believes 'that our policies are better for human flourishing. They're better for the U.S. economy. They're better for everything that he's involved in with his innovation and job creation and entrepreneurship.' The speaker and other Republicans, including Trump's White House budget chief, continued their push back Sunday against forecasts that their tax and budget plans will add to annual deficits and thus balloon a national debt already climbing toward $40 trillion. Story continues below advertisement Johnson insisted that Musk has bad information, and the speaker disputed the forecasts of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office that scores budget legislation. The bill would extend the 2017 Trump tax cuts, cut spending and reduce some other levies but also leave some 10.9 million more people without health insurance and spike deficits by $2.4 trillion over the decade, according to the CBO's analysis. The speaker countered with arguments Republicans have made for decades: That lower taxes and spending cuts would spur economic growth that ensure deficits fall. Annual deficits and the overall debt actually climbed during the administrations of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, and during Trump's first presidency, even after sweeping tax cuts. Russell Vought, who leads the White House Office of Budget and Management, said on Fox News Sunday that CBO analysts base their models of 'artificial baselines.' Because the 2017 tax law set the lower rates to expire, CBO's cost estimates, Vought argued, presuming a return to the higher rates before that law went into effect. Vought acknowledged CBO's charge from Congress is to analyze legislation and current law as it is written. But he said the office could issue additional analyses, implying it would be friendlier to GOP goals. Asked whether the White House would ask for alternative estimates, Vought again put the burden on CBO, repeating that congressional rules allow the office to publish more analysis. Other Republicans, meanwhile, approached the Trump-Musk battle cautiously. Story continues below advertisement 'As a former professional fighter, I learned a long time ago, don't get between two fighters,' said Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin on CNN's State of the Union. He even compared the two billionaire businessmen to a married couple. 'President Trump is a friend of mine but I don't need to get, I can have friends that have disagreements,' Mullin said. 'My wife and I dearly love each other and every now and then, well actually quite often, sometimes she disagrees with me, but that doesn't mean that we can't stay focused on what's best for our family. 'Right now, there may be a disagreement but we're laser-focused on what is best for the American people.' –with files from The Associated Press' Gary Fields
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
‘Back to the days of land grabs': NM state lawmakers on alert against sale of public lands
Rep. Patricia Roybal Caballero (D-Albuquerque) attended a watch event for a court hearing in the Yazzie/Martinez education equity case on April 29, 2025. (Photo by Danielle Prokop / Source NM) Even though the Republican tax and spend bill that cleared the United States House of Representatives last month no longer authorizes the sale of thousands acres of public land, state lawmakers in New Mexico say they will continue to monitor how the federal government's actions toward public lands could impact Native nations. As the interim legislative Indian Affairs Committee on Monday planned its work for the rest of 2025 at its first meeting since this year's legislative session, two members said the U.S. government's plan to sell public lands could threaten tribal sovereignty and economic development in New Mexico, which is home to 23 Indigenous nations. Rep. Patricia Roybal Caballero, an enrolled member of the Piro Manso Tiwa Tribe and an Albuquerque Democrat, said she anticipates the federal government's sales of public lands may affect tribal sovereignty, and she wants to know what legal mechanisms are available to the state government to 'push back against those land grabs.' 'I envision us going back to the days of land grabs,' Roybal Caballero said. U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.), who co-founded the Bipartisan Public Lands Caucus earlier this year, last month applauded the removal of a provision in the budget bill that would have authorized the sale of thousands acres of public land in Utah and Nevada. At the time, Mark Allison, executive director of conservation advocacy group New Mexico Wild, said this is the first of many fights in coming days to stave off efforts to privatize public lands. 'The same forces that tried to sneak this land grab through would love nothing more than to come after New Mexico's public lands next time,' he said. NM delegation: Three national monuments could be reduced, eliminated Rep. Charlotte Little, an Albuquerque Democrat from San Felipe Pueblo, said on Monday she wants the committee to receive a report on the impact of the federal government's proposed actions toward the Chaco Canyon and Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks national monuments, and how those actions could also affect economic development in the surrounding areas. New Mexico's federal delegation, led by U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), in April asked the federal government to leave intact Tent Rocks along with Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument and Rio Grande del Norte, which they said were 'under consideration for reduction or elimination.' Roybal Caballero also said she wants the committee to discuss issues related to sustainable management of tribal lands including water rights, resource extraction and environmental protection. By the end of the year, the committee is expected to endorse legislation for the 2026 legislative session. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff says he ‘strongly' agrees Trump needs to be impeached
Georgia Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff told a voter in Georgia on Friday that he 'strongly' agrees that President Donald Trump needs to be impeached. 'There is no doubt that this president's conduct has already exceeded any prior standard for impeachment by the United States House of Representatives,' Ossoff told the audience at a town hall in Cobb County, adding later that there is 'no question' a number of Trump's actions have risen to the level of an impeachable offense. Ossoff, who is perhaps the nation's most endangered Senate Democrat and who is charting a path for reelection in a state Trump won in 2024, is just the latest in his party to face critical questions during Congress' two-week break from Washington. Constituents have challenged members of both parties on a range of topics, but Democrats – who have held more public, in-person town halls – have faced deep frustrations from voters who have said the party is not doing enough to counter the president. The senator told attendees that 'there is no magic button' he can push to unwind the Trump administration's dismantling of federal agencies and overhaul of the federal workforce – drawing an impassioned response from one voter. 'Why are there no calls for impeachment? This is unacceptable,' the woman shouted to cheers from the crowd. 'I will not live in an authoritative country, and neither will any of these people. You can do more! Think outside the box! He needs to be impeached.' The woman, who said she has a father who is a retired Army colonel, a son with autism and kids who attend a Title 1 school, urged Ossoff to be 'brave.' 'I like you, and I will vote for you if you are brave, and you do what we need,' she said. 'We need him [Trump] to be impeached. We need him to be removed.' Ossoff said he agreed, but the senator noted the unlikelihood of such an action in Congress, saying the only road to Trump's impeachment is through a majority vote in the GOP-controlled House. 'I agree with you, but as I said at the beginning, I also have no choice but to be candid with you about the situation that we face and the tools that are at our disposal,' he said. 'As strongly as I agree with you, ma'am, and I regret if this is an unwelcome response, but my job is to be honest with you. The only way to achieve what you want to achieve is to have a majority in the United States House of Representatives and … believe me, I'm working on it every single day, every single day.' Another audience member identified herself as a US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention worker who had been fired as part of DOGE's mass layoffs. She accused Ossoff of being less supportive of public health than Georgia Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock, despite Ossoff's position as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. 'He [Warnock] didn't just listen,' she said. '[He] added resources for fired feds to his website and assigned dedicated staffers to assist us individually. Your office has put out a few press releases.' Ossoff outlined his approach to what he described as the GOP's plans to scrap funding for public health from the budget at the state, national and global level. 'I will remain an outspoken champion of Georgia's CDC and continue to oppose — both through the legislative process, and as you noted, as an appropriator — the proposed deep cuts to the CDC budget, continue to vigorously oppose and expose the foolishness of these mass firings at the CDC, and champion the CDCs work nationally and internationally as a proud representative,' Ossoff said. Ossoff also fielded a question about what he plans to do if Trump incites martial law to block the 2028 presidential election from happening. 'I have no doubt that this president, given his authoritarian impulses, his desire to rule as a king by decree, and his contempt for those who criticize and disagree with him, would relish the opportunity to try to invoke or wield emergency powers,' he said. Ossoff said Trump's perceived desires 'cannot deter us' and went on to offer words of encouragement for constituents feeling fearful or hopeless. 'That cannot deter us as citizens from peacefully exercising every constitutional right to which we are entitled as American citizens, to speak out and to advocate for the kind of country that we want to live in, and we will not be deterred from exercising our right as citizens,' he said.
CNN
25-04-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff says he ‘strongly' agrees Trump needs to be impeached
Georgia Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff told a voter in Georgia on Friday that he 'strongly' agrees that President Donald Trump needs to be impeached. 'There is no doubt that this president's conduct has already exceeded any prior standard for impeachment by the United States House of Representatives,' Ossoff told the audience at a town hall in Cobb County, adding later that there is 'no question' a number of Trump's actions have risen to the level of an impeachable offense. Ossoff, who is perhaps the nation's most endangered Senate Democrat and who is charting a path for reelection in a state Trump won in 2024, is just the latest in his party to face critical questions during Congress' two-week break from Washington. Constituents have challenged members of both parties on a range of topics, but Democrats – who have held more public, in-person town halls – have faced deep frustrations from voters who have said the party is not doing enough to counter the president. The senator told attendees that 'there is no magic button' he can push to unwind the Trump administration's dismantling of federal agencies and overhaul of the federal workforce – drawing an impassioned response from one voter. 'Why are there no calls for impeachment? This is unacceptable,' the woman shouted to cheers from the crowd. 'I will not live in an authoritative country, and neither will any of these people. You can do more! Think outside the box! He needs to be impeached.' The woman, who said she has a father who is a retired Army colonel, a son with autism and kids who attend a Title 1 school, urged Ossoff to be 'brave.' 'I like you, and I will vote for you if you are brave, and you do what we need,' she said. 'We need him [Trump] to be impeached. We need him to be removed.' Ossoff said he agreed, but the senator noted the unlikelihood of such an action in Congress, saying the only road to Trump's impeachment is through a majority vote in the GOP-controlled House. 'I agree with you, but as I said at the beginning, I also have no choice but to be candid with you about the situation that we face and the tools that are at our disposal,' he said. 'As strongly as I agree with you, ma'am, and I regret if this is an unwelcome response, but my job is to be honest with you. The only way to achieve what you want to achieve is to have a majority in the United States House of Representatives and … believe me, I'm working on it every single day, every single day.' Another audience member identified herself as a US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention worker who had been fired as part of DOGE's mass layoffs. She accused Ossoff of being less supportive of public health than Georgia Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock, despite Ossoff's position as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. 'He [Warnock] didn't just listen,' she said. '[He] added resources for fired feds to his website and assigned dedicated staffers to assist us individually. Your office has put out a few press releases.' Ossoff outlined his approach to what he described as the GOP's plans to scrap funding for public health from the budget at the state, national and global level. 'I will remain an outspoken champion of Georgia's CDC and continue to oppose — both through the legislative process, and as you noted, as an appropriator — the proposed deep cuts to the CDC budget, continue to vigorously oppose and expose the foolishness of these mass firings at the CDC, and champion the CDCs work nationally and internationally as a proud representative,' Ossoff said. Ossoff also fielded a question about what he plans to do if Trump incites martial law to block the 2028 presidential election from happening. 'I have no doubt that this president, given his authoritarian impulses, his desire to rule as a king by decree, and his contempt for those who criticize and disagree with him, would relish the opportunity to try to invoke or wield emergency powers,' he said. Ossoff said Trump's perceived desires 'cannot deter us' and went on to offer words of encouragement for constituents feeling fearful or hopeless. 'That cannot deter us as citizens from peacefully exercising every constitutional right to which we are entitled as American citizens, to speak out and to advocate for the kind of country that we want to live in, and we will not be deterred from exercising our right as citizens,' he said.
CNN
25-04-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff says he ‘strongly' agrees Trump needs to be impeached
Georgia Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff told a voter in Georgia on Friday that he 'strongly' agrees that President Donald Trump needs to be impeached. 'There is no doubt that this president's conduct has already exceeded any prior standard for impeachment by the United States House of Representatives,' Ossoff told the audience at a town hall in Cobb County, adding later that there is 'no question' a number of Trump's actions have risen to the level of an impeachable offense. Ossoff, who is perhaps the nation's most endangered Senate Democrat and who is charting a path for reelection in a state Trump won in 2024, is just the latest in his party to face critical questions during Congress' two-week break from Washington. Constituents have challenged members of both parties on a range of topics, but Democrats – who have held more public, in-person town halls – have faced deep frustrations from voters who have said the party is not doing enough to counter the president. The senator told attendees that 'there is no magic button' he can push to unwind the Trump administration's dismantling of federal agencies and overhaul of the federal workforce – drawing an impassioned response from one voter. 'Why are there no calls for impeachment? This is unacceptable,' the woman shouted to cheers from the crowd. 'I will not live in an authoritative country, and neither will any of these people. You can do more! Think outside the box! He needs to be impeached.' The woman, who said she has a father who is a retired Army colonel, a son with autism and kids who attend a Title 1 school, urged Ossoff to be 'brave.' 'I like you, and I will vote for you if you are brave, and you do what we need,' she said. 'We need him [Trump] to be impeached. We need him to be removed.' Ossoff said he agreed, but the senator noted the unlikelihood of such an action in Congress, saying the only road to Trump's impeachment is through a majority vote in the GOP-controlled House. 'I agree with you, but as I said at the beginning, I also have no choice but to be candid with you about the situation that we face and the tools that are at our disposal,' he said. 'As strongly as I agree with you, ma'am, and I regret if this is an unwelcome response, but my job is to be honest with you. The only way to achieve what you want to achieve is to have a majority in the United States House of Representatives and … believe me, I'm working on it every single day, every single day.' Another audience member identified herself as a US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention worker who had been fired as part of DOGE's mass layoffs. She accused Ossoff of being less supportive of public health than Georgia Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock, despite Ossoff's position as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. 'He [Warnock] didn't just listen,' she said. '[He] added resources for fired feds to his website and assigned dedicated staffers to assist us individually. Your office has put out a few press releases.' Ossoff outlined his approach to what he described as the GOP's plans to scrap funding for public health from the budget at the state, national and global level. 'I will remain an outspoken champion of Georgia's CDC and continue to oppose — both through the legislative process, and as you noted, as an appropriator — the proposed deep cuts to the CDC budget, continue to vigorously oppose and expose the foolishness of these mass firings at the CDC, and champion the CDCs work nationally and internationally as a proud representative,' Ossoff said. Ossoff also fielded a question about what he plans to do if Trump incites martial law to block the 2028 presidential election from happening. 'I have no doubt that this president, given his authoritarian impulses, his desire to rule as a king by decree, and his contempt for those who criticize and disagree with him, would relish the opportunity to try to invoke or wield emergency powers,' he said. Ossoff said Trump's perceived desires 'cannot deter us' and went on to offer words of encouragement for constituents feeling fearful or hopeless. 'That cannot deter us as citizens from peacefully exercising every constitutional right to which we are entitled as American citizens, to speak out and to advocate for the kind of country that we want to live in, and we will not be deterred from exercising our right as citizens,' he said.
