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Trump Looks to Persuade GOP on Big Bill05/20 06:26
President Donald Trump is heading to Capitol Hill early Tuesday to seal the
deal on his "big, beautiful bill," using the power of political persuasion to
unify divided House Republicans on the multitrillion-dollar package that is at
risk of collapsing ahead of planned votes this week.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump is heading to Capitol Hill early
Tuesday to seal the deal on his "big, beautiful bill," using the power of
political persuasion to unify divided House Republicans on the
multitrillion-dollar package that is at risk of collapsing ahead of planned
votes this week.
Trump has implored GOP holdouts to "STOP TALKING, AND GET IT DONE." But
negotiations are slogging along and it's not at all clear the package, with its
sweeping tax breaks and cuts to Medicaid, food stamps and green energy
programs, has the support needed from the House's slim Republican majority, who
are also being asked to add some $350 billion to Trump's border security,
deportation and defense agenda.
Conservatives are insisting on quicker, steeper cuts to federal programs to
offset the costs of the trillions of dollars in lost tax revenue. At the same
time, a core group of lawmakers from New York and other high-tax states want
bigger tax breaks for their voters back home. Worries about piling onto the
nation's $36 trillion debt are stark.
"I think it's pretty obvious that they're going to need more time," said
Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., the chairman of the House Freedom Caucus.
"These are complicated issues with trillions of dollars," he said. "We've
got to do this thing right."
Trump's visit to address House Republicans at their weekly conference
meeting comes at a pivotal moment, testing the president's deal-making powers.
House Speaker Mike Johnson is determined to push the bill forward and needs
Trump to provide the momentum, either by encouragement or political warnings or
a combination of both.
With House Democrats lined up against the package, GOP leaders have almost
no votes to spare. A key committee hearing is set for the middle of the night
Tuesday in hopes of a House floor vote by Wednesday afternoon.
Democrats argue the package is little more than a giveaway to the wealthy at
the expense of health care and food programs Americans rely on.
"They literally are trying to take health care away from millions of
Americans at this very moment in the dead of night," said House Democratic
Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York.
"If this legislation is designed to make life better for the American
people, can someone explain to me why they would hold a hearing to advance the
bill at 1 a.m. in the morning?"
Trump has been pushing hard for Republicans to unite behind the bill, which
has been uniquely shaped in his image as the president's signature domestic
policy initiative in Congress.
The sprawling 1,116-page package carries Trump's title, the " One Big
Beautiful Bill Act," as well as his campaign promises to extend the tax breaks
approved during his first term while adding new ones, including no taxes on
tips, automobile loan interest and Social Security.
Yet, the price tag is rising and lawmakers are wary of the votes ahead,
particularly as the economy teeters with uncertainty.
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan fiscal
watchdog group, estimates that the House bill is shaping up to add roughly $3.3
trillion to the debt over the next decade.
Republicans criticizing the measure argued that the bill's new spending and
tax cuts are front-loaded, while the measures to offset the cost are
back-loaded.
In particular, the conservative Republicans are looking to speed up the new
work requirements that Republicans want to enact for able-bodied participants
in Medicaid. They had been proposed to start Jan. 1, 2029, but GOP Majority
Leader Steve Scalise said on CNBC that work requirements for some Medicaid
beneficiaries would begin in early 2027.
At least 7.6 million fewer people are expected to have health insurance
under the initial Medicaid changes, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office
said last week.
Republican holdouts are also looking to more quickly halt green energy tax
breaks, which had been approved as part of the Biden-era Inflation Reduction
Act, and are now being used for renewable energy projects across the nation.
But for every change Johnson considers to appease the hard-right
conservatives, he risks losing support from more traditional and centrist
Republicans. Many have signed on to letters protesting deep cuts to Medicaid
and food assistance programs and the rolling back of clean energy tax credits.
At its core, the sprawling legislative package permanently extends the
existing income tax cuts and bolsters the standard deduction, increasing it to
$32,000 for joint filers, and the child tax credit to $2,500.
The New Yorkers are fighting for a larger state and local tax deduction
beyond the bill's proposal. As it stands, the bill would triple what's
currently a $10,000 cap on the state and local tax deduction, increasing it to
$30,000 for joint filers with incomes up to $400,000 a year. They have proposed
a deduction of $62,000 for single filers and $124,000 for joint filers.
If the bill passes the House this week, it would then move to the Senate,
where Republicans are also eyeing changes.
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