logo
What's next for Trump's tax bill? Quarreling House Republicans

What's next for Trump's tax bill? Quarreling House Republicans

House Republicans are already slamming the changes made to the bill in the Senate, from moderate members concerned about cuts to Medicaid and fiscal conservatives who are concerned about the bill's massive price tag. It will add a projected $3.3 trillion to the national debt over the next 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
"The United States is $37 TRILLION in the red. This is unsustainable," wrote Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, on X. "I support President Trump and his tax cuts, but we cannot saddle our children and grandchildren with TRILLIONS upon TRILLIONS in new debt."
However, House Speaker Mike Johnson indicated in a statement that he plans to push his conference to accept the bill in order to meet the president's self-imposed deadline of July 4.
"The House will work quickly to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill that enacts President Trump's full America First agenda by the Fourth of July. The American people gave us a clear mandate, and after four years of Democrat failure, we intend to deliver without delay," he said in a statement. "This bill is President Trump's agenda, and we are making it law."
A key House committee plans to meet in the afternoon to begin the process of advancing the Senate's bill in the chamber.
Trump indicated that he may be willing to budge on the July 4 deadline given the complications of passing it in the House.
"I'd love to do July 4th, but I think it's very hard to do July 4th," Trump told reporters. "It can go longer, but we'd like to get it done by that time if possible."
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Republicans scramble to corral support for Trump megabill ahead of House vote
Republicans scramble to corral support for Trump megabill ahead of House vote

NBC News

time18 minutes ago

  • NBC News

Republicans scramble to corral support for Trump megabill ahead of House vote

WASHINGTON — House Republican leaders are moving rapidly on Wednesday to try to pass the party's massive domestic policy package after the Senate approved it, launching a full-court press and enlisting the help of President Donald Trump to sway a broad group of holdouts. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., can only afford three defections to pass the legislation through his narrow majority, presuming all members attend and Democrats vote against it. Johnson privately huddled just off Capitol Hill with members of the hardline House Freedom Caucus, who are demanding deeper spending cuts. At the White House, Trump was holding multiple meetings with holdouts and on-the-fence members, one GOP lawmaker said, including with the moderate members of the Republican Main Street Caucus. Within hours of it narrowly passing the Senate Tuesday, House Republicans advanced the bill through the Rules Committee by a margin of 7-6, with Reps. Chip Roy, R-Texas, and Ralph Norman, R-S.C., voting "no" due to concerns that it would add to the debt. Several House conservatives complained that the spending cuts were insufficient after shrinking in the Senate package. They raged against the fact that various provisions were stripped out due to budget rules in the chamber, including immigration-related restrictions they strongly support. But nearly all of those lawmakers have developed a track record of folding and voting in alignment with Trump when the pressure is on them. GOP leaders are counting on them to do so again. One House Republican lawmaker said conservatives in the Freedom Caucus used to get political cover from groups like Club for Growth, but Trump has scrambled the calculus on the right. The Club for Growth is backing the bill, and conservative figures like Russell Vought and Stephen Miller are in Trump's inner circle and some of the loudest cheerleaders for the package. Freedom Caucus members 'have no cover' if they vote no, the lawmaker said Wednesday. 'Who's going to protect them from Trump? Thomas Massie?' Trump has been in a bitter feud with conservative Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., threatening to recruit a primary challenger against him after he was one of just two Republicans who voted against the House bill in May. Massie, who walks around Capitol Hill wearing a live debt clock, has said the legislation would make the deficit situation worse and has continued to rail against it. And politically vulnerable Republicans were unhappy with the more aggressive Medicaid cuts in the Senate bill, along with a series of clean energy funding rollbacks that they warned against. The Senate-passed bill would add $3.3 trillion to the national debt over 10 years, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which found that the loss of revenue from tax cuts would outstrip the spending cuts in the legislation. The legislation would extend the tax cuts Trump signed into law in 2017 while boosting funding for immigration enforcement and the military. It would also makes significant cuts to Medicaid, food stamps and clean energy funding, while raising the debt limit by $5 trillion. On the Capitol steps Wednesday morning, Democrats blasted the legislation as a massive tax cut for the wealthiest Americans, paid for by slashing programs that help the working class. "It is the cruelest bill that I've ever seen in my tenure in the House of Representatives," said Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., the ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, who has served in the House since 1988.

The new right is splintering
The new right is splintering

Spectator

time23 minutes ago

  • Spectator

The new right is splintering

When Elon Musk tweeted his vision for an 'America Party', he ignited a firestorm of hope and scepticism. The idea was inspired by his anger for Donald Trump's $5 trillion spending bill. In the UK, Ben Habib and Rupert Lowe, formerly figures in Reform, have splintered away from Britain's populist party over splits with Nigel Farage. Musk, Habib and Lowe are all disruptors united by disdain for broken systems, and all face harsh electoral realities. In the US, a hypothetical Musk-led party could split the Republican vote, potentially handing Democrats victories. Habib and Lowe could dilute the populist vote in the UK, most of which is currently with Reform. Musk's flirtation with a new political movement stems from his clash with Trump over fiscal policy. Musk's platform – slashing deficits, deregulating business and boosting high-skilled immigration – appeals to tech-savvy moderates and disillusioned independents. On X, Musk has framed himself as a voice for the pragmatic middle, critiquing both parties' extremes. But his vision lacks the cultural red meat – 'America First' border control or anti-woke rhetoric – that fuels Trump's MAGA base. Musk's $250 million investment in America PAC for Trump's 2024 campaign shows his financial clout, but he would struggle to go it alone. The US electoral landscape is unforgiving to new parties. In 1992, Ross Perot's Reform party won 19 per cent of the vote but zero electoral votes, a cautionary tale for any Musk-led venture. State-by-state ballot access laws, such as California's requirement of roughly 131,000 signatures, would also pose logistical hurdles. Musk's wealth – estimated at $400 billion in 2025 – could fund signature drives and ad campaigns, but building a national infrastructure by 2026 is daunting. Republican strategists have suggested that Musk could reshape the party from within, using his America PAC influence and X's narrative-shaping power, rather than risk starting a third party and failing. Others have warned that his centrist pitch – pro-immigration, pro-tech – alienates voters demanding border security and cultural conservatism. Polls, while unconfirmed for 2025, suggest Republicans view third-party efforts sceptically. Across the Atlantic, Habib and Lowe embody a parallel populist surge. Habib has launched a new political party, Advance UK, which he says stands for a 'proud' and 'independent' United Kingdom, where 'the political views you hold won't land you in jail'. It is billed as an alternative to Reform. Lowe, meanwhile, has just launched Restore Britain, a 'movement' that will pressure political parties to 'slash immigration, protect British culture, restore Christian principles, carpet-bomb the cancer of wokery'. The UK's first-past-the-post system is brutal – Reform's 14 per cent in 2024 yielded just five MPs – and so a fragmented populist vote could split the right and gift Labour seats. Populism in the US and UK shares politics but fights different battles. Musk decries bureaucratic bloat and unfulfilled 2016 promises, while Habib and Lowe target Labour's cultural shifts and attack Farage personally. Musk's X is the transatlantic wildcard, shaping narratives but fuelling polarisation. Reports earlier this year suggested Musk was thinking about making a significant investment in UK politics. In the US, his $250 million America PAC war chest (and X's reach) give him leverage, but Republican loyalties and the Electoral College limit third-party impact. Disruption without cohesion breeds division. The US and the UK need fresh ideas, but splitting conservative votes could empower the elites they oppose. The lesson is clear: conservatives must channel their zeal to reform existing parties from within. To do otherwise risks electoral failure.

House members in mad scramble back to DC to vote on Trump's ‘Big Beautiful Bill' after heading home for July 4
House members in mad scramble back to DC to vote on Trump's ‘Big Beautiful Bill' after heading home for July 4

The Independent

time28 minutes ago

  • The Independent

House members in mad scramble back to DC to vote on Trump's ‘Big Beautiful Bill' after heading home for July 4

Members of the House of Representatives from both parties were forced to return to Washington, D.C. to vote on President Donald Trump's ' One Big, Beautiful Bill ' after the Senate passed it, Politico reported. With Trump exerting great pressure on Speaker Mike Johnson to get the bill to his desk for a signing before the July 4 holiday, the House plans to vote on the bill as soon as possible. That triggered a mad dash back to the nation's capital and comes amid a Republican rift over the amended bill — which would force cuts to Medicaid and makes states shoulder more of the cost for food assistance while extending the 2017 tax cuts Trump signed. Republican Rep. Nancy Mace posted that she and her team would travel back from South Carolina by van. 'We have secured a van for a DC road trip tonight to make it in time for votes on BBB tomorrow,' Mace posted. Democratic Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, who is running for Illinois' open Senate seat, hosted a Zoom town hall as he drove 14 hours to Washington after his flight was canceled. 'We made it,' he said. 'Drove overnight from IL to vote NO on this Large Lousy Law.' By coincidence, Rep. Derek Tran of California wound up stranded in the Pittsburgh airport, so he and fellow Democratic Rep. Chris DeLuzio of Pennsylvania drove to Washington and hosted a virtual town hall as well. Democratic Rep. Mark Pocan of Wisconsin posted how his flight was canceled because of thunderstorms, so he would drive to Chicago to make an early flight to Washington. The bill passed the House of Representatives narrowly last month, partially due to the fact that three Democratic members of Congress had died. House Speaker Mike Johnson has scheduled a vote for the morning. The vote comes after the Senate conducted a marathon 27-hour vote-a-rama before passing the bill by a 51-50 margin with Vice President JD Vance breaking a tie in the Senate. Three Republicans--Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Susan Collins of Maine and Thom Tillis of North Carolina--opposed the bill. But many House members have criticized the bill. During a House Rules Committee hearing, Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, who criticized the bill last month but nonetheless voted for it, said the Senate 'failed' with the bill. Plenty of Republican members also fear the cuts to Medicaid could disproportionately hurt their constituents.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store