Republican senate tax bill would add $3.3 trillion to the US debt load, CBO says
WASHINGTON (AP) — The changes made to President Donald Trump's big tax bill in the Senate would pile trillions onto the nation's debt load while resulting in even steeper losses in health care coverage, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said in a new analysis, adding to the challenges for Republicans as they try to muscle the bill to passage.
The CBO estimates the Senate bill would increase the deficit by nearly $3.3 trillion from 2025 to 2034, a nearly $1 trillion increase over the House-passed bill, which CBO has projected would add $2.4 to the debt over a decade.
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Winnipeg Free Press
37 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Senate Republicans are in a sprint on Trump's big bill after a weekend of setbacks
WASHINGTON (AP) — After a weekend of setbacks, the Senate will try to sprint ahead Monday on President Donald Trump's big bill of tax breaks and spending cuts despite a series of challenges, including the sudden announcement from one GOP senator that he won't run for reelection after opposing the package over its Medicaid health care cuts. An all-night session to consider an endless stream of proposed amendments to the package, in what's called a vote-a-rama, was abruptly postponed, and it's now scheduled to launch as soon as the Senate gavels open. With Democrats united against the Republican president's legislation and eagerly lined up to challenge it, the voting could take all day. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said the 'hardest choices' for Republicans are still to come. His side plans to bring 'amendment after amendment after amendment to the floor, so Republicans can defend their billionaire tax cuts and so they can try to explain their massive cuts to Medicaid to people back home.' The hours ahead will be pivotal for the Republicans, who have control of the Congress and are racing against Trump's Fourth of July deadline to wrap up work. The 940-page 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act,' as it is now formally titled, has consumed the Congress as its shared priority with the president, with no room politically to fail, even as not all Republicans are on board. A new analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found that 11.8 million more Americans would become uninsured by 2034 if the bill became law. It also said the package would increase the deficit by nearly $3.3 trillion over the decade. House Speaker Mike Johnson's leadership team has recalled lawmakers back to Washington for voting in the House as soon as Wednesday, if the legislation can first clear the Senate. But the outcome remains uncertain, especially after a weekend of work in the Senate that brought less visible progress on securing enough Republican support, over Democratic opposition, for passage. Senators to watch Few Republicans appear fully satisfied as the final package emerges. GOP Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who announced Sunday he would not seek reelection after Trump badgered him over his opposition to the package, said he has the same goals as Trump, cutting taxes and spending. But Tillis said this package is a betrayal of the president's promises not to kick people off health care, especially if rural hospitals close. 'We could take the time to get this right,' he thundered. At the same time, some loosely aligned conservative Senate Republicans — Rick Scott of Florida, Mike Lee of Utah, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming — have pushed for steeper cuts, particularly to health care, drawing their own warning from Trump. 'Don't go too crazy!' the president posted on social media. 'REMEMBER, you still have to get reelected.' GOP leaders barely secured enough support to muscle the legislation past a procedural Saturday night hurdle in a tense scene. A handful of Republican holdouts revolted, and it took phone calls from Trump and a visit from Vice President JD Vance to keep it on track. As Saturday's vote tally teetered, attention turned to Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who was surrounded by GOP leaders in intense conversation. She voted 'yes.' Several provisions in the package including a higher tax deduction for native whalers and potential waivers from food stamps or Medicaid changes are being called the 'Polar Payoff' designed for her state. But some were found to be out of compliance with the rules by the Senate parliamentarian. What's in the big bill All told, the Senate bill includes some $4 trillion in tax cuts, making permanent Trump's 2017 rates, which would expire at the end of the year if Congress fails to act, while adding the new ones he campaigned on, including no taxes on tips. The Senate package would roll back billions of dollars in green energy tax credits that Democrats warn will wipe out wind and solar investments nationwide and impose $1.2 trillion in cuts, largely to Medicaid and food stamps, by imposing work requirements, making sign-up eligibility more stringent and changing federal reimbursements to states. Additionally, the bill would provide a $350 billion infusion for border and national security, including for deportations, some of it paid for with new fees charged to immigrants. Democrats ready to fight Unable to stop the march toward passage, the Democrats as the minority party in Congress are using the tools at their disposal to delay and drag out the process. Democrats forced a full reading of the text, which took 16 hours. Then Democratic senators took over Sunday's debate, filling the chamber with speeches, while Republicans largely stood aside. 'Reckless and irresponsible,' said Sen. Gary Peters, a Democrat from Michigan. 'A gift to the billionaire class,' said Vermont's Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats. 'Follow what the Bible teaches us: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,' said Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., as Sunday's debate pushed past midnight. Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the ranking Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, raised particular concern about the accounting method being used by the Republicans, which says the tax breaks from Trump's first term are now 'current policy' and the cost of extending them should not be counted toward deficits. Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. 'In my 33 years here in the United States Senate, things have never — never — worked this way,' said Murray, the longest-serving Democrat on the Budget Committee. She said that kind of 'magic math' won't fly with Americans trying to balance their own household books. 'Go back home,' she said, 'and try that game with your constituents.' ___ Associated Press writers Ali Swenson, Fatima Hussein and Michelle L. Price contributed to this report.
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
Asian shares are mixed after U.S. stocks hit an all-time high
A currency trader watches monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, June 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) BANGKOK — Asian shares started the week with gains after U.S. stocks closed at an all-time high following their recovery from the shocks of the Trump administration's trade policies. Canada's decision to cancel a plan to tax U.S. technology firms that had led President Donald Trump to halt trade talks helped to steady the markets. U.S. stock futures advanced after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said the talks had resumed. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 climbed 0.8% to 40,487.39. Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 0.3% to 24,084.20, while the Shanghai Composite index advanced 0.6% to 3,444.43. China reported that its factory activity improved slightly in June after Beijing and Washington agreed in May to postpone imposing higher tariffs on each others' exports, though manufacturing remained in contraction. In South Korea, the Kospi gained 0.5% to 3,071.70. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.3% to 8,542.30. Taiwan's Taiex lost 1.4% and the Sensex in India was down 0.6%. In Bangkok, the SET gained 0.4%. On Friday, the S&P 500 rose 0.5% to 6,173.07, above its previous record set in February. The key measure of Wall Street's health fell nearly 20% from Feb. 19 through April 8. The Nasdaq composite gained 0.5% to 20,273.46, its own all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1% to 43,819.27. The gains on Friday were broad, with nearly every sector within the S&P 500 rising. Nike soared 15.2% for the biggest gain in the market, despite warning of a steep hit from tariffs. An update on inflation Friday showed prices ticked higher in May, though the rate mostly matched economists' projections. Inflation remains a big concern. Trump's on-again-off-again tariff policy has made it difficult for companies to make financial forecasts and strained household budgets. A long list of businesses from carmakers to retailers have warned that higher import taxes will likely hurt their revenues and profits. The U.S. has 10% baseline tariffs on all imported goods, along with higher rates for Chinese goods and other import taxes on steel and autos and the threat of more severe tariffs continues to hang over the economy. The current pause on a round of retaliatory tariffs against a long list of nations is set to expire on July 9. Failure to negotiate deals or further postpone the tariffs could once again rattle investors and consumers. In an interview with Fox News Channel's 'Sunday Morning Futures,' Trump said his administration will notify countries that the trade penalties will take effect unless there are deals with the United States. Letters will start going out 'pretty soon' before the approaching deadline, he said. The Federal Reserve is monitoring the tariff situation with a big focus on inflation. The rate of inflation has been stubbornly sitting just above the central bank's target of 2%. In a report Friday, its preferred gauge, the personal consumption expenditures index, rose to 2.3% in May. That's up from 2.2% the previous month. The Fed cut interest rates three times in late 2024 following a historic series of rate hikes to cool inflation. The PCE was as high as 7.2% in 2022 while the more commonly used consumer price index hit 9.1%. The Fed hasn't cut rates so far in 2025 over worries that tariffs could reignite inflation and hamper the economy. Economists still expect at least two rate cuts before the end of the year. Bond yields held relatively steady. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.25% from 4.27% late Friday. The two-year Treasury yield, which more closely tracks expectations for what the Federal Reserve will do, stood at 3.73%. In other dealings early Monday, U.S. benchmark crude oil lost 31 cents to $65.21 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, gave up 20 cents to $66.60 per barrel. The U.S. dollar fell to 144.06 Japanese yen from 144.46 yen. The euro fell $1.1722 from $1.1725. Elaine Kurtenbach, The Associated Press
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
Retiring government rep Marc Gold calls Senate ‘greatest privilege' of his life
Government Representative in the Senate Sen. Marc Gold, right, poses with Sen. Scott Tannas, left, and Daryl S. Fridhandler in Ottawa on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld OTTAWA — Sen. Marc Gold's career as the government's representative in the Senate is ending, closing a chapter he called 'the greatest privilege' of his life. Gold reaches the Senate's mandatory retirement age of 75 on Monday. He was first appointed in 2016. He said he sought out the role because he wanted to help bring a sense of legitimacy back to the Senate after an expense scandal rocked the chamber of sober second thought. 'I wanted to be part of the modernization of and revitalization of an institution that, rightly or wrongly, had slipped,' Gold told The Canadian Press, adding that the 'legitimacy and integrity' of the Senate, 'rightly or wrongly, had been sullied in the minds of Canadians.' Gold said he saw establishing a climate of non-partisanship in the Senate as a key factor in restoring the institution's legitimacy. The Independent Senators Group formed after Justin Trudeau, as the leader of the Liberal party, removed senators from the Liberal caucus in 2014. That move, which came before Trudeau became prime minister, was done as the Senate was still reeling from an expense scandal involving Senators Mike Duffy, Pamela Wallin and others. Trudeau said he did it to try and reduce partisanship in the upper chamber. The Independent Senators Group was not formally recognized in the Senate until 2016, the year Gold was first appointed. 'The Senate was at risk of being either an echo chamber of the partisanship that you see in the House of Commons, or simply a rubber stamp when the same party controlled both houses,' he said. 'So I think the changes that were introduced in 2016 rebalance the relationship between the House and the Senate in an important way, but not in a revolutionary way. The Senate was always intended to be an institution that took a longer-range view of policy.' Gold became an unaffiliated senator in 2020 after Trudeau asked him to serve as the government's representative in the Senate, tasking him with guiding government legislation through the upper chamber. Gold said he hasn't seen a 'marked change' in the relationship between the House of Commons and the Senate relationship under either Trudeau or Prime Minister Mark Carney. Gold said he experienced 'all kinds of mixed and powerful feelings' when the Senate passed C-5, the government's major projects bill, on Thursday — his final day in the Senate chamber. Gold said that he can't speak to Carney's plans for the Senate but he hopes the upper chamber will continue to operate in its current form. 'I do believe the Senate's transformation into a more independent and less partisan institution over the past decade has been a major success in democratic reform,' he said. 'The Senate is now more closely aligned to its original and true constitutional purpose. And I do hope that this progress will continue.' Gold said that while it might sound clichéd, he really is looking forward to spending more time with two things he loves — his family and music. 'One of my great passions in life is music. I still play in a few bands. I'm starting a new band in my hometown, in Sutton, Quebec. And I can't wait to be working on that in the weeks to come,' Gold said. While his new 'bluesy' band does not yet have a name, Gold said he will continue playing guitar in his other two bands, Hard Knocks and The Steamfitters. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 30, 2025. David Baxter, The Canadian Press
