Latest news with #taxcuts
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump's ‘big, beautiful bill' might be unloved and a mess – but it will still probably pass
President Donald Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' – which he on Thursday dubbed the 'ultimate codification' of the MAGA agenda – is a paradox that shows how power works in a broken political system in which he's the single greatest force. As it stumbles through the Senate, the bill – which extends vast tax cuts, hikes border security funding and includes historic cuts to Medicaid – is perpetually on life support as chunks keep getting culled to fit the chamber's budgetary rules. Growing numbers of Republican lawmakers required to pass the measure hate it. The public doesn't want it – according to a Quinnipiac University poll released earlier this month, voters oppose the measure by 53% to 27%. The survey is no outlier. Who can really say what is left in the bill after days of Senate wrangling? It's barely recognizable from the one the House passed. That's trouble for Speaker Mike Johnson, who is under great pressure to get whatever the Senate produces back through the House before Trump's July Fourth deadline. As Republicans race to pass the bill, those in swing seats may be casting a vote that they can't avoid but that could cost them their jobs. It's possible the measure could become one of those presidential vanity projects that lose the House majority, if Democrats flip the chamber in next year's midterm elections. But despite its many liabilities, you can take this to the bank: Something will pass, even if some White House priorities get pared back. And Trump will declare whatever lands on his desk one of the most important pieces of legislation in US history. The MAGA agenda measure has become imperative to Trump's prestige. It's too big and beautiful to fail. Trump is even more sensitive to such markers of success than most presidents. And recent history suggests his hold over the GOP base may cause most holdouts to cave in the end. The president has strong-armed vast political change already, using expansive executive power in a blitz that has triggered multiple court challenges. But legislation is the way to make reforms stick. And his description of the bill as the 'codification' of the MAGA project is about right. The measure is critical to boosting funding and manpower for the president's mass deportation plans. It also withdraws swaths of benefits for certain categories of migrants. It includes one of Trump's favorite campaign promises: the exemption from taxes for overtime and tips. In another nod to the president's populist origins, the White House has argued that the bill supports Main Street over Wall Street, touting support for family farms, housing affordability and new Trump investment accounts for newborns. The administration says that the typical family with two kids would have a take-home pay raise of between $7,600 and $10,900 and claims the bill would save or create roughly 7 million jobs. But as is the case with most big budget bills, all this relies on creative mathematics, rosy assumptions of growth and low inflation. And like Trump's tax bill in his first term, this measure is a feint that reveals the limits of his populism since it rewards higher earners handsomely. And the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the House version of the bill would boost the deficit by $2.4 trillion. Michigan Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin told CNN's Jake Tapper on Thursday that Trump was trying to disguise a transfer of wealth to the rich with populist flourishes. 'He's thrown in some little pieces here and there that will be, I think, really important but, man, he is preferencing the very wealthy in this bill, and he's trying to hide it by becoming the middle-class hero. We need to call him out on that.' Politically, the White House is eyeing a potential purple patch for the president. If it can add the measure to what it claims is the obliteration of Iran's nuclear program and a pledge by NATO members to up their defense spending to 5% of GDP, it would create an undeniably full second-term legacy for the president. Trump held a White House event Thursday that was meant to heap pressure on GOP critics of the legislation, but ended up sounding more like a victory lap, punctuated with Trump's characteristic digressions about his obsessions: former President Joe Biden, 'crooked elections' and the participation of transgender women in sports. At times, it was almost as if Trump thought the bill had already passed: He hailed 'one of the most important pieces of legislation in the history of our country and that's everybody saying that, virtually everybody.' And he added, 'The 'One Big, Beautiful Bill' to secure our borders, turbocharge our economy and bring back the American Dream – it's met with tremendous approval and reception.' The mood of celebration at the White House contrasted with the growing acrimony on Capitol Hill as Republicans clashed with Republicans. Democrats are powerless bystanders in the fight. But they are watching and waiting to blast the GOP for throttling Medicaid and making the rich richer in next year's midterm elections. Trump's demand for a 'big, beautiful bill' signing by America's birthday is now in peril. The timeline, which was already ambitious, took a hit with the latest decision by the Senate's top rules official that a multibillion-dollar slice of the measure was not allowed under reconciliation – the intricate process used to pass a bill with a simple majority, in this case with only GOP support. More bad news for GOP Majority leader John Thune: Thursday's ruling concerned one of the most politically explosive aspects of the bill – a change to taxes that states can impose to pay for Medicaid coverage. This comes against the backdrop of the bill's Medicaid spending cuts of hundreds of billions over a decade. Several prominent GOP senators, including Josh Hawley of Missouri and Susan Collins of Maine, who faces a tough reelection bid next year, have warned they won't vote for the bill if it contains these tax maneuvers. They say the measure could be devastating to rural hospitals, especially in many red states. This latest roadblock left Thune racing for a fix. But every modification to the bill could make it potentially an even more bitter pill for House lawmakers, especially conservative budget hawks, who say they are ready to defy Trump. 'Everything is challenging, but they're all speed bumps,' Thune told reporters on Thursday. 'We have contingency plans, plan B and plan C. We'll continue to litigate it,' he said. In normal circumstances, this wouldn't be too much of a problem. It's a rule of thumb on the Hill that bills often look like they are coming apart at the seams right up to the moment that they make it to their final votes. But Trump's craving for a July Fourth celebration is making things much harder. Thune would have to get the bill out of the Senate by the weekend. Then Johnson would have to rally his tiny, restive majority to jam it through, using the carrot of getting lawmakers home to the kids in time for the fireworks. The speaker could try to appease anger among his members over Senate changes to the bill by entering a conference with the other chamber to negotiate. But that could take days or weeks, meaning that Trump's plans for a bill-signing by America's 249th birthday would be spoiled. But some Republicans, who often talk a good game on opposing the president but end up caving under the MAGA heat, say the classic strategy of pressuring members with a bill that the president demands won't work this time. Rep. Eric Burlison of Missouri told CNN's Manu Raju that it was not responsible for leadership to agree a deal behind closed doors and then put it to a vote. 'That's what Washington is good at, is kind of jamming people last-minute, giving you something you haven't had time to read, haven't had time to get reflection or input from your district,' he said, adding, 'It's not ideal.' The Trump-era Republican Party has made a brand of breaking the rules in Washington – it's why it's so popular with grassroots conservatives, whose frustration the president has harnessed to his benefit. Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville hit out at the current parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough for a series of decisions that made the 'big, beautiful bill' a bit smaller this week, in an X post reverberating with MAGA applause lines 'The WOKE Senate Parliamentarian, who was appointed by Harry Reid and advised Al Gore, just STRUCK DOWN a provision BANNING illegals from stealing Medicaid from American citizens. This is a perfect example of why Americans hate THE SWAMP,' Tuberville wrote. The president, meanwhile, has little patience for anything that slows the bill – an amalgam of MAGA priorities being shoved through as one massive potential law because of fears that the Republican House majority is so brittle it will bear only a limited number of critical votes. 'We don't want to have grandstanders,' he said Thursday. 'They do it to grandstand, that's all. Not good people. They know who I'm talking about. I call them out, but we don't need grandstanders.'
New York Times
8 hours ago
- Business
- New York Times
Why a Bill Nobody Loves Feels Inevitable
The path for the One Big Beautiful Bill, as President Trump calls his signature domestic legislation, has not been linear. The bill, which would extend the 2017 tax cuts and cut into the social safety net to pay for it, barely passed the House. It was heavily rewritten in the Senate. In recent days, various provisions have been rejected by a key Senate official whose job is to make sure that lawmakers color inside the lines of such budget bills, leaving senators scrambling to add back in what they can. Then there's the fact that, as my colleagues Carl Hulse and Catie Edmondson wrote today, nobody really loves the bill. But this is Trump's Washington. And trifling matters like not knowing quite what's going to be in the bill — and not particularly liking it — will probably not stop Senate Republicans from voting for it, potentially as soon as this weekend. I asked Catie, who has covered every twist and turn of this bill's winding path, to explain how it became a policy grab bag, why it makes so many Republicans uncomfortable — and why none of that probably matters when it comes to its chances of becoming law. As we speak, Republicans are scrambling to save various provisions that the Senate parliamentarian believes run afoul of the rules governing budget bills. You've covered Congress since the first Trump administration, and you have seen a lot of sausage-making in that time. Is it always, uh, like this? Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump cancels trip to push ‘big, beautiful bill' across finish line
(NewsNation) — President Trump is making one final push to get the 'big, beautiful bill' he's championed across the finish line. NewsNation confirmed that Trump has called off a weekend trip to his Bedminster Golf Club in New Jersey to focus on the bill and lobby Republicans who remain on the fence with what the spending package currently includes. The White House on Thursday dug in on its expectation that Congress will pass the massive reconciliation package containing Trump's key agenda items by next week, despite a vital setback from the Senate parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough. 'We expect that bill to be on the president's desk for signature by July 4,' White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters. Trump says Iran must open itself to inspection to verify it doesn't restart its nuclear program Trump's optimism about the bill's deadline to pass has wavered a bit than in the past. The legislation calls for tax cuts for families, no tax on tips or overtime, a child tax credit increase, extension of the 2017 tax cuts, and clean energy tax cuts. Trump claims that if it doesn't pass, the country would see a 68% tax increase. 'It's a great bill,' he said. It's a massive tax cut. It will be interesting to see if we get any Democratic votes. If I were a Democrat, I would vote for this bill all day long because it's tax cuts and many other things that are common sense.' The Latest: Trump emboldened to accelerate his agenda after nationwide injunction ruling Trump also held a White House event on Thursday to pressure Republican holdouts to support his so-called 'big, beautiful bill' ahead of the deadline. The gathering featured 'everyday Americans' who the administration claims will benefit from 'many different provisions in the bill.' Truck drivers, firefighters, law enforcement, health care workers, tipped workers, and others were in attendance. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Bloomberg
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Trump to Spend Rare DC Weekend Harrying Senate on Tax Bill
This is Washington Edition, the newsletter about money, power and politics in the nation's capital. Every Friday, White House correspondent Akayla Gardner delivers a roundup of the key news and events in politics, policy and economics that you need to know. Sign up here and follow us at @bpolitics. Email our editors here. President Donald Trump wants senators working through the weekend on his megabill of priorities from tax cuts to immigration. He's spending a rare weekend in Washington, too — skipping his usual trek to New Jersey — as he seeks to get fellow Republicans in line.
CNA
11 hours ago
- Business
- CNA
US Senate Republicans see delays as they face yawning budget hole on Trump bill
WASHINGTON: Top US Republicans confronted a yawning budget hole in their sprawling tax-cut and spending bill on Friday (Jun 27), signalling that they could miss President Donald Trump's Jul 4 deadline as they rewrite dozens of elements rejected by a nonpartisan referee. With roughly US$600 billion in spending cuts ruled off limits by the Senate parliamentarian, Republicans will have to revise large swaths of the package, which is widely seen as the signature legislation of Trump's second term in office. That includes some of the most divisive elements of the bill, such as a crackdown on Medicaid "provider taxes" that some Senate Republicans fear could threaten rural hospitals. With the legislation still unfinished, Trump acknowledged that Congress might not be able to pass it by his deadline of Jul 4, the US Independence Day holiday. "It's important, it's not the end-all," he told reporters at the White House. "We'd like to get it done by that time, if possible." Asked if the deadline could slip, House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson said, "It's possible, but I don't want to even accept that as an option right now," while Senate Majority Leader John Thune said only, "We'll see." Lawmakers will face a far more serious deadline later this summer, when they need to raise the nation's self-imposed debt ceiling or risk a devastating default on the nation's US$36.2 trillion in debt. BILL OVERHAUL Along with Medicaid, the spending cuts at issue also would tighten student aid programmes and limit federal aid to "sanctuary" cities that do not cooperate with federal immigration enforcement, amount to nearly half of the US$1.3 trillion in cuts Republicans have identified to partially offset the bill's US$3.7 trillion in tax breaks. Republicans have also dropped a "retaliatory tax" on foreign investments that would have raised more than US$100 billion, further complicating the budget picture. WIGGLE ROOM They have some wiggle room, as the budget framework they approved earlier this year allows them to increase budget deficits by a total of US$3.3 trillion over 10 years. A version of the bill that passed the House in May would raise deficits by US$2.4 trillion. Nonpartisan experts say that new debt would worsen the nation's fiscal outlook and effectively transfer wealth from younger Americans to older generations. Republicans still must pass the bill out of the Senate and then reconcile any differences with the House before sending it on to Trump to sign into law. With Democrats united in opposition, Republicans can afford to lose no more than three votes from their side in either chamber. Sticking points include healthcare cuts, green-energy incentives and a carve-out for state and local taxes, said Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma. PARLIAMENTARIAN PUSHBACK Senate Republicans said they would try to rework the provider tax and some of the other rejected elements to meet the approval of Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough, who is tasked with interpreting the chamber's arcane rules. MacDonough has ruled that those elements do not comply with the complex budget rules Republicans are invoking to bypass Democratic opposition. MacDonough so far has rejected healthcare cuts worth a total of US$250 billion, according to Democratic Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, as well as student-aid cuts worth more than US$300 billion. She has also rejected dozens of other elements of the bill, such as looser regulations for firearms silencers and a forced sale of public lands, that do not have a dramatic budgetary impact. The Republican rewrite has met with some success, as MacDonough signed off on a revised provision that would force states to shoulder more costs of the SNAP food aid programme if they are found to administer it inefficiently, according to Republican Senator John Boozman of Arkansas. The "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" would extend Trump's 2017 tax cuts, fund his immigration crackdown, zero out green-energy incentives passed by his Democratic predecessor Joe Biden, and tighten eligibility for health and food safety net programmes.
