Latest news with #TedBudd
GMA Network
01-07-2025
- Business
- GMA Network
US Senate passes Trump's sweeping tax-cut, spending bill, sends to House
US Senator Ted Budd (R-NC) gestures as he walks down the US Capitol steps with the Senate poised to pass Trump's sweeping spending and tax bill, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., July 1, 2025. REUTERS/ Nathan Howard WASHINGTON — The Republican-controlled US Senate passed President Donald Trump's tax and spending bill on Tuesday, signing off on a massive package that would enshrine many of his top priorities into law while adding $3.3 trillion to the national debt. The bill now heads back to the House of Representatives for final approval. Trump has pushed lawmakers to get it to his desk to sign into law by the July 4 Independence Day holiday. Trump's Republicans have had to navigate a narrow path while shepherding the 940-page bill through a Congress that they control by the slimmest of margins. With Democrats lined up in opposition, Republicans have had only three votes to spare in both the House and Senate as they wrangled over specific tax breaks and healthcare policies that could reshape entire industries and leave millions of people uninsured. Yet they have managed to stay largely unified so far. Only three of the Senate's 53 Republicans joined with Democrats to vote against the package, which passed 51-50 after Vice President JD Vance cast the tiebreaking vote. The vote in the House, where Republicans hold a 220-212 majority, is likely to be close as well. 'Not fiscal responsibility' An initial version passed with only two votes to spare in May, and several Republicans in that chamber have said they do not support the version that has emerged from the Senate, which the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates will add $800 billion more to the national debt than the House version. The House Freedom Caucus, a group of hardline conservatives who repeatedly threatened to withhold their support for the tax bill, is pushing for more spending cuts than what the Senate offered. 'The Senate's version adds $651 billion to the deficit—and that's before interest costs, which nearly double the total,' the caucus posted online on Monday, 'That's not fiscal responsibility. It's not what we agreed to.' A group of more moderate House Republicans, especially those who represent lower-income areas, object to the steeper Medicaid cuts in the Senate's plan. 'I will not support a final bill that eliminates vital funding streams our hospitals rely on,' Representative David Valadao, a California Republican, said during the weekend debate. Still, House Republicans are likely to face enormous pressure to fall in line from Trump in the days to come. Tax breaks, immigration crackdown, tighter benefits The "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" would make permanent Trump's 2017 business and personal income tax cuts, which are due to expire at the end of this year, and dole out new tax breaks for tipped income, overtime and seniors that he promised during the 2024 election. It provides tens of billions of dollars for Trump's immigration crackdown and would repeal many of Democratic President Joe Biden's green-energy incentives. The bill would also tighten eligibility for food and health safety net programs, which nonpartisan analysts say would effectively reduce income for poorer Americans who would have to pay for more of those costs. The CBO estimates the latest version of the bill would add $3.3 trillion to the $36.2-trillion debt pile. That increased debt effectively serves as a wealth transfer from younger to older Americans, nonpartisan analysts say, as it will slow economic growth, raise borrowing costs and crowd out other government spending in the decades to come. The bill also would raise the nation's borrowing limit by $5 trillion, postponing the prospect of a debt default this summer that would roil global markets. Republicans rejected the cost estimate generated by the CBO's longstanding methodology. Nonetheless, foreign bond investors see incentives to diversify out of US Treasuries as deficits deepen. Republicans say the bill will help families and small businesses and put benefit programs like Medicaid on a more sustainable path, and they have broadly agreed on its main contours. But they have struggled to agree on the Medicaid funding mechanism and a tax break for state and local tax payments that is a top priority for a handful of House Republicans from high-tax states including New York, New Jersey and California. Others worry that a crackdown on a funding mechanism for the Medicaid health program could lead to service cutbacks in rural areas. Some on the party's right flank, meanwhile, have pushed for deeper Medicare cuts to lessen its budgetary impact. Trump has singled out those Republican dissenters on his Truth Social network and excluded them from White House events, and few have been willing to defy him since he returned to office in January. Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, one of the three Republicans who voted against the bill, said on Sunday he would not run for re-election next year. — Reuters
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Republicans Flee Questions About the Cost of Trump's $45M Birthday Tank Parade
Republican lawmakers are using every trick in the book to avoid attending Trump's extravagant military parade—or commenting on its estimated $45 million price tag. The event in Washington, D.C., on Saturday is being billed as a celebration of the Army's 250th anniversary, which just so happens to coincide with the president's 79th birthday. Critics have derided the parade—which will feature thousands of soldiers and 28 tanks—as unnecessary and wasteful. Some Republican lawmakers, it seems, don't want to talk about the colossal expense to taxpayers of making Trump's long-standing dream for a big military parade come true. According to Huffington Post, almost a dozen GOP Senators tried to avoid answering simple questions—if they planned to attend, and if they're comfortable with the estimated $45 million cost—when asked on Wednesday. Utah Sen. Mike Lee told the publication he 'might be' attending, before saying of the parade's price tag: 'Uh, I have not looked into the price.' Nebraska Sen. Deb Fischer said she is going to be out of town and then dodged the question about cost by getting into an elevator, according to Huffington Post. North Carolina Sen. Ted Budd, meanwhile, responded to a question about the price with eight seconds of silence before similarly escaping via an elevator. When asked about his comfort level with the costs of Trump's military parade, Indiana Sen. Todd Young spoke about unrelated legislation. When confronted over the fact he didn't answer the question, he reportedly snapped back: 'I answered the question I wanted to answer!' Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas told the publication simply: 'No comment.' It comes as just seven out of 50 congressional Republicans surveyed by Politico said they plan to stay in the capital for the parade. One of the few GOP senators willing to outright break ranks with the president was Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, who compared the parade to similar displays in autocratic states such as North Korea and described it as beneath the United States. 'I've never been a big fan of goose-stepping soldiers in big tanks and missiles rolling down the street,' he said. 'So if you asked me, I wouldn't have done it. We were always different than the images you saw of the Soviet Union and North Korea. We were proud not to be that.' Speaking about the cost of the parade in a May 4 interview on Meet the Press, Trump said the price of putting it on was 'peanuts compared to the value of doing it.' 'We have the greatest missiles in the world. We have the greatest submarines in the world,' Trump said at the time. 'We have the greatest army tanks in the world. We have the greatest weapons in the world. And we're going to celebrate it.'
E&E News
11-06-2025
- Politics
- E&E News
Lawmakers revive bill to increase prescribed fires
A bipartisan group of House and Senate lawmakers are reviving bipartisan legislation to increase the use of prescribed fire on and around national forests. The 'National Prescribed Fire Act,' from Senate Finance ranking member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), would provide a science-based strategy for reducing wildfire risks in forests adapted to fire, backers say. The latest version makes minor tweaks to a bill that passed the Energy and Natural Resources Committee last year, including removing some language on studying legal issues around prescribed fire. It adds some language to bring the Southeast more into the programs. Advertisement Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) has joined as a co-sponsor. In the House, Reps. David Valadao (R-Calif.) and Kim Schrier (D-Wash.) are introducing a companion bill.
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Executive order signed to lift ban on overland supersonic flight, opening door for future Greensboro-made jet
GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) — A company with ambitious goals centered on the Triad is celebrating the issuance of a presidential executive order. On Friday, Donald Trump signed an executive order to lift the FAA's ban of supersonic flights over the United States. Recently, Senators Ted Budd (R-North Carolina) and Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) were among several lawmakers who introduced bills in the house and senate that would revise this ban. The lifting of this ban comes as Boom Supersonic, a company aiming to build a supersonic airliner, has chosen Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro as the site where it will build engines for its planned Overture jet. Boom wrote in a statement that it supports repealing the ban, which the company calls outdated. Boom Supersonic did multiple test flights earlier in the year with their XB-1 jet, which broke the sound barrier without creating an audible boom. 'Legalizing supersonic flight makes a renaissance in supersonic passenger travel inevitable,' said Blake Scholl, Founder and CEO of Boom Supersonic. 'We're grateful to President Trump for his leadership—this important step allows us to accelerate development of our Overture supersonic airliner.' Boom is investing about $500 million to build Overture, a commercial supersonic jet, in Greensboro and, in January 2023, on a 62-acre site where its so-called 'Superfactory' is . The company, which plans to employ more than 1,700, also has an . Boom plans to have its first passengers in the air by 2029 and will fly more than 600 'profitable routes' to destinations worldwide with a range of 4,250 nautical miles. Boom has taken on three partners to design and build which will power the Overture, and now has partnerships with companies to provide Another partner, Dimensional Energy, is to provide which is as being made from 'renewable biomass and waste resources,' which could be corn, algae or wood products. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Improvements, full closure Blue Ridge Parkway postponed to accommodate Helene recovery
NORTH CAROLINA (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Following a request from a North Carolina senator, the planned full closure of the Blue Ridge Parkway to make repairs has been postponed. This week, the U.S. Department of Interior said it will pause the multi-year Great American Outdoors Act project underway on the Parkway. This is to accommodate continuing recovery needs from Hurricane Helene on the country's most-visited national park site. The department's action was in response to Sen. Ted Budd, who requested the delay until after the peak visitors' season. Helene ravaged the region last fall just as the season began, forcing an initial full closure due to debris and heavy damage to the roadway, and much of the the road remains closed to this day. Nearly 200 miles of Blue Ridge Parkway reopens as long-term work remains in North Carolina 'Communities in Western North Carolina were hit hard by Hurricane Helene, and as we begin to rebuild, closing the Blue Ridge Parkway at this juncture would only set us back,' Budd said in a statement. 'The Parkway serves as a lifeline to small businesses and recreation access across the Appalachian Region — bringing tourists, supporting local businesses, and keeping our economy moving. I'm grateful the Trump administration recognized our state's needs following a letter I sent last month. This is the right decision to prioritize the near-term recovery of our region while still ensuring the resurfacing project is completed in the future.' The full rehabilitation project and associated closures are now scheduled to take place in 2026, and the overall project to be completed in 2027 or later. At that time, full closures is slated for a nearly 20-mile stretch between Blowing Rock and Beacon Heights. The National Park Service is working closely with the Federal Highway Administration to make necessary project modifications. 'The National Park Service honors the important relationship between the Parkway and the many communities it connects over its 469-mile passage through North Carolina and Virginia,' the DOI said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
