Speaker Johnson and Republicans head to White House as Trump’s tax breaks bill hits trouble

WASHINGTON AP With President Donald Trump s multitrillion-dollar tax breaks package at jeopardy of stalling House Speaker Mike Johnson and conservative Republican holdouts are heading Wednesday to the White House for the last-ditch talks to salvage the big beautiful bill Johnson R-La had hoped to vote as soon as Wednesday on the -page plus bill after grinding through an all-night committee hearing a final step in the process But debate dragged into midday Democrats without the votes to stop Trump s package are using all available tools to press their opposition and capitalize on the GOP disarray We believe it s one big ugly bill that s going to hurt the American people disclosed House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York as he and his club testified before the committee Hurt children hurt families hurt veterans hurt seniors cut healthcare care cut nutritional assistance explode the debt he noted Trump had instructed the Republican majority to quit arguing and get it done putting his own political influence on the line But the Republican president failed to move a multitude of skeptics during his Capitol Hill visit this week and GOP leaders struggled through the the night on crafting last-minute deals But for every faction of the slim House majority that Johnson appeases he is losing others A tentative deal with GOP lawmakers from New York and other high-tax states to boost deductions for local taxes to alarmed the majority conservative Republicans worried it will add to the nation s trillion debt Rep Andy Harris R-Md the chairman of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus mentioned he did not believe the package could pass in a House vote but there is a pathway forward that we can see We want to deliver the president s agenda he stated It s a make-or-break moment for the president and his party in Congress They have invested much of their political capital during the crucial first insufficient months of Trump s return to the White House on this regulation If the House Republicans fall in line with the president overcoming unified Democratic objections the measure would next go to the Senate We re doing very well It s very close Trump stated at the White House A fresh analysis from the Congressional Budget Office noted the tax provisions would increase federal deficits by trillion over the decade while the changes to Medicaid food stamps and other services would tally trillion in reduced spending The lowest-income households in the U S would see their support drop while the highest ones would see a boost the CBO noted Republicans convened the House Rules Committee hearing shortly after midnight but Johnson s Memorial Day deadline for House passage was slipping as lawmakers prepared to depart for the holiday At its core the package is centered on extending the tax breaks approved during Trump s first term in while adding new ones he campaigned on during his campaign To make up for certain of the lost revenue the Republicans are focused on spending cuts to federal safety net programs and a massive rollback of green resource tax breaks from the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act Additionally the package tacks on billion in new spending with about billion going to the Pentagon including for the president s new Golden Dome defense shield and the rest for Trump s mass deportation and demarcation safeguard agenda The package title carries Trump s own words the One Big Beautiful Bill Act As Trump promised voters on the tax front the package proposes there would be no taxes on tips for certain workers including those in several provision industries automobile loan interest or various overtime pay There would be an increase to the standard income tax deduction to for joint filers and a boost to the child tax credit to There would be an enhanced deduction of for older adults of certain income levels to help defray taxes on Social Shield income To cut spending the package would impose new work requirements for various people who receive medical care through Medicaid Able-bodied adults without dependents would need to fulfill hours a month on a job or in other population initiatives Similarly those who receive food stamps through the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Undertaking known as SNAP would also face new work requirements Older Americans up to age rather than who are able-bodied and without dependents would need to work or engage in the group programs for hours a month Additionally selected parents of children older than years old would need to fulfill the work requirements under current law the requirement comes after children are Republicans noted they want to root out waste fraud and abuse in the federal programs The Congressional Budget Office has estimated million fewer people would have soundness insurance with the various changes to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act It also disclosed million fewer people each month would have SNAP benefits Conservatives are insisting on quicker steeper cuts to federal programs to offset the costs of the trillions of dollars in lost tax revenue GOP leaders have sped up the start date of the Medicaid work requirements from to At the same time more moderate and centrist lawmakers are wary of the changes to Medicaid that could product in lost medical care for their constituents Others are worried the phaseout of the renewable force tax breaks will impede businesses using them to invest in green potency projects in a multitude of states Plus those lawmakers from New York California and other high-tax states want a bigger state and local tax deduction called SALT for their voters back home As it stands the bill would triple what s currently a cap on the state and local tax deduction increasing it to for joint filers with incomes up to a year But advocates required more Under the emerging deal the cap would increase the deduction to with an income limit of according to a person granted anonymity to discuss the private talks The cap would phase down for incomes above that level The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget a nonpartisan fiscal watchdog group estimates that the House bill is shaping up to add roughly trillion to the debt over the next decade