Latest news with #taxcut
CNA
an hour ago
- Business
- CNA
US Senate Republicans aim to push ahead on Trump's sweeping tax-cut, spending Bill
WASHINGTON: US Senate Republicans will seek to push President Donald Trump's sweeping tax-cut and spending Bill forward on Saturday (Jun 28) with a procedural vote that could kick off a marathon weekend session. The Bill would extend the 2017 tax cuts that were Trump's main first-term legislative achievement, cut other taxes and boost spending on the military and border security. Nonpartisan analysts estimate a version passed by the House of Representatives last month would add about US$3 trillion to the nation's US$36.2 trillion government debt. Senate Republicans have been deeply divided over plans to partly offset that Bill's heavy hit to the deficit, including by cutting the Medicaid health insurance program for low-income Americans. Republicans are using a legislative manoeuvre to bypass the Senate's 60-vote threshold to advance most legislation in the 100-member chamber. Their narrow margins in the Senate and House mean they can afford no more than three Republican no votes to advance a Bill that Democrats are united in opposing, saying it takes a heavy toll on low- and middle-income Americans to benefit the wealthy. Trump has pushed for Congress to pass the bill by the Jul 4 Independence Day holiday. The White House said early this month that the legislation, which Trump calls the "One Big Beautiful Bill", would reduce the annual deficit by US$1.4 trillion. While a handful of Republicans in both chambers have voiced opposition to some of the Bill's elements, this Congress has so far not rejected any of the president's legislative priorities. A successful vote to open debate would kick off a lengthy process that could run into Sunday, as Democrats unveil a series of amendments that are unlikely to pass in a chamber Republicans control 53-47. TAX BREAKS, SPENDING CUTS Democrats will focus their firepower with amendments aimed at reversing Republican spending cuts to programs that provide government-backed healthcare to the elderly, poor and disabled, as well as food aid to low-income families. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer summarised the reasons for his party's opposition to the Bill at a Friday press conference by saying "it has the biggest cuts to food funding ever", and could result in more than 2 million people losing their jobs. He also highlighted the Republican rollback of clean energy initiatives ushered in by the Biden administration. Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune stressed the tax-cut components during a Friday speech to the Senate. "The centrepiece of our Bill is permanent tax relief for the American people," he said as he showcased legislation that contains a new tax break for senior citizens and other taxpayers. The measure, Thune said, will "help get our economy firing on all cylinders again". It would also raise the Treasury Department's statutory borrowing limit by trillions of dollars to stave off a first default on its debt in the coming months. If the Senate manages to pass Trump's top legislative goal by early next week, the House would be poised to quickly apply the final stamp of approval, sending it to Trump for signing into law. But with Senate Republicans struggling to find enough spending cuts to win the support of the party's far right, Trump on Friday loosened the leash a bit, saying his Jul 4 deadline for wrapping it all up was "important" but "it's not the end-all". Among the most difficult disagreements Senate Republicans struggled to resolve late on Friday was the size of a cap on deductions for state and local taxes and a Medicaid cost-saving that could hobble rural hospitals.
Bloomberg
7 hours ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Trump Speeds Up Tax Bill Deadline as Tentative SALT Deal Reached
By and Erik Wasson Updated on Save President Donald Trump amped up pressure on Congress to speed passage of his tax-cut bill as Republicans reached a tentative deal on the state and local tax deduction, one of the key sticking points in the negotiations. 'The House of Representatives must be ready to send it to my desk before July 4th — We can get it done,' Trump said on Truth Social Friday.
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
WA's Newhouse says he won't vote for GOP mega-bill if it calls for public land sales
Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA), seen during a July 2019 hearing on Capitol Hill, in Washington, D.C., was reelected in the 2024 election to a sixth term in the U.S. House. Washington U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse says he won't back the sweeping tax cut and spending bill his fellow Republicans are trying to push through Congress if it includes controversial provisions to sell off federal public land. Newhouse and four other Republicans in the U.S. House stated their opposition to the potential land sales in a Thursday letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson. 'If a provision to sell public lands is in the bill that reaches the House floor, we will be forced to vote no,' says the letter, which was also signed by Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Oregon, and Rep. David Valadao, R-Calif. Republicans hold a narrow 220-212 majority in the House, and their 'One Big Beautiful Bill' squeaked through that chamber by just a single vote in May. Before it did, Republicans scrapped a proposal to make 500,000 acres of public land in Nevada and Utah available for sale. The sweeping budget legislation is now under consideration in the Senate, where Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, introduced a scaled-up version of the land sale proposal earlier this month. It would've made millions of acres of U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management property in Washington and other states eligible for sale. Earlier this week, the nonpartisan Senate parliamentarian ruled the language of Lee's original proposition was out of order. However, Lee has said he wants to press ahead with a narrower version of the plan that would still put thousands of acres of Bureau of Land Management property up for sale in 11 Western states, including Washington. Newhouse and the four other Republicans said in their letter to Johnson that they 'generally accept changes to the bill that may be made by the Senate.' But they added: 'We cannot accept the sale of federal lands that Senator Lee seeks.' They said efforts by Lee to add a land sale proposal into the bill 'would be a grave mistake, unforced error, and poison pill that will cause the bill to fail should it come to the House floor.' A spokesman for Newhouse's office said Friday the congressman did not have any comment on the issue beyond what was said in the letter. 6.26.25 Public Lands Letter A copy of the letter that U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse and four other House Republicans sent to House Speaker Mike Johnson on June 26, 2025.
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump Speeds Up Tax Bill Deadline as Tentative SALT Deal Reached
(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump amped up pressure on Congress to speed passage of his tax-cut bill as Republicans reached a tentative deal on the state and local tax deduction, one of the key sticking points in the negotiations. Philadelphia Transit System Votes to Cut Service by 45%, Hike Fares US Renters Face Storm of Rising Costs Squeezed by Crowds, the Roads of Central Park Are Being Reimagined Mapping the Architectural History of New York's Chinatown Sprawl Is Still Not the Answer 'The House of Representatives must be ready to send it to my desk before July 4th — We can get it done,' Trump said on Truth Social Friday. The new deadline — before July 4 — is somewhat of a reversal for the president who, hours earlier told reporters that it wouldn't be the 'end-all' if Congress missed the self-imposed Independence Day goal. On Friday afternoon, the tentative SALT deal suggested that Republicans may have momentum on their side. The agreement involved raising the limit on the state and local tax deduction to $40,000 a year for a five-year period, Senator John Hoeven told reporters. New York Republican Mike Lawler, a key negotiator, later confirmed the deal and told Bloomberg TV he believes it 'will pass.' The new cap would provide complete SALT relief to more than 90% of his constituents, he estimated. Senators said the tentative plan is to begin voting on the bill Saturday midday. It wasn't immediately clear whether SALT Caucus member Nick LaLota of New York would back the deal. His vote could end up being needed due to the narrow Republican majority in the House. GOP lawmakers from New York, New Jersey and California have pressed to preserve a deal included in the House bill that increased the deduction cap to $40,000, up from the $10,000 in current law, for 10 years. The original Senate draft kept the write-off at $10,000. The latest deal retains a House proposal to phase out the deduction for taxpayers with at least $500,000 in income, a person familiar said, who requested anonymity to discuss private conversations. Republicans also plan to drop new limits they had sought on pass-through businesses' deductions of state and local tax taxes, the person said. Until now, some business owners in most states haven't actually needed to abide by the SALT cap that applies to everyone else, thanks to legal workarounds approved by legislatures in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, California and dozens of other states. The House version of Trump's massive tax and spending package put curbs on those workarounds. The SALT provision has been one of several holdups for the Trump tax bill in the Senate. Senate Republican Leader John Thune is also trying to navigate competing demands from conservatives and moderates on social safety net cuts and the elimination of clean energy tax credits. He will need to resolve most of the disputes to secure the votes he needs to pass the bill. The massive tax and spending package is the legislative centerpiece of Trump's economic agenda. The Senate version makes permanent individual and business tax breaks enacted in 2017, while adding temporary new breaks for tipped and overtime workers, seniors and car-buyers. The bill would add hundreds of billions of dollars in new spending for the military, border patrol and immigration enforcement. To partly pay for the revenue losses, the bill reduces spending on Medicaid health insurance for the poor and disabled, food assistance for low-income Americans and financial aid to college students. The measure would also avert a US payment default as soon as August by raising the debt ceiling by $5 trillion. --With assistance from Kailey Leinz and Joe Mathieu. (Updates with Lawler in fifth paragraph) America's Top Consumer-Sentiment Economist Is Worried How to Steal a House Inside Gap's Last-Ditch, Tariff-Addled Turnaround Push Luxury Counterfeiters Keep Outsmarting the Makers of $10,000 Handbags Apple Test-Drives Big-Screen Movie Strategy With F1 ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Japan Times
a day ago
- Business
- Japan Times
Ahead of election, CDP chief vows 'responsible' tax cut
Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP) chief Yoshihiko Noda has said that his party's pledge to reduce the consumption tax rate on food items to zero is a "responsible tax cut" because the pledge comes with a funding measure. "Measures to cope with rising prices will be the biggest focus (of the July 20 House of Councilors election)," Noda said in an interview on Wednesday. "We've pledged to implement a zero tax rate for food for one year in principle." "It will be a responsible tax cut with a deadline and a clearly outlined funding source," Noda stressed. "We won't issue debt-covering bonds, nor will we create a hole in social security. ... It's distinct from (the tax reduction proposals of) other parties." Noda argued that the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's cash handout proposal "does not come with a clear design of how it will be funded," adding that the LDP has gone from "no policy" to "bad policy." In contrast, the CDP's plan to provide ¥20,000 ($138) per person as a provisional measure would be financed with reserve funds from the government's general and special accounts, according to Noda. The CDP chief said that his party's goal in the Upper House election is to maximize opposition seats and prevent the ruling bloc from winning half of the Upper House seats up for grabs this time. "We'll work hard to hopefully force (the ruling bloc) into a minority (in the Upper House) as a whole," which would make a change in government "more realistic," Noda said. When asked if the CDP aims to form a coalition government with other opposition parties, Noda said, "We'll basically seek to form a government independently." However, he suggested that his party could consider a coalition if it does not have enough seats. Noda noted that a coalition with the Japanese Communist Party would be impossible without a "considerable" policy agreement. Meanwhile, Noda pointed out that little progress has been made on social security reform since the CDP's predecessor lost power. "We need to reboot once again," he said. The CDP leader dismissed the idea of forming a grand coalition with the LDP in order to advance the CDP's proposal for a refundable tax credit program. "I don't think we should consider such a drastic move for just one policy," he said.
