Latest news with #LloydSmucker
Time of India
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
‘Voting to fund illegals with Medicaid dollars': Smucker & Bessent rip Dems on ‘Big Beautiful Bill'
Democrats opposing the 'Big, Beautiful Bill' risk harming the middle class, warns Rep. Lloyd Smucker. In a fiery exchange with Scott Bessent, Smucker slams the left for supporting Medicaid access for 1.4 million undocumented immigrants, 'voting to allow Medicaid dollars to those here... illegally' all while increasing taxes on hardworking Americans. He argued that rejecting the bill means prioritizing non-citizens over citizens and endangering the US economy with reckless policies. Show more Show less
Politico
12-06-2025
- Business
- Politico
Republicans stuff new tax cuts into their megabill, hoping voters will take note
Republicans are using their domestic policy megabill as an opportunity to pile on new tax breaks in hopes of quickly juicing people's tax refunds, the economy and their political fortunes ahead of next year's midterm elections. Their plan would spend more than $200 billion on tax cuts this year, in addition to simply extending tax cuts enacted in 2017 that are set to expire at the end of this year and would likely go unnoticed by most taxpayers. An enlarged Child Tax Credit, a supersized break for state and local tax (SALT) deductions and a slew of other goodies would be made retroactively available for this tax year so that people can claim them when they file their tax returns next spring. Businesses too would receive a bevy of backdated tax cuts. Almost two-thirds of filers are in line to receive, on average, an extra $1,200 next year, the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center figures, though that could be pared back by the Senate. Republicans are already touting the coming benefits to voters, though they risk being eclipsed by complaints from Democrats that the wealthy would see much bigger tax cuts and that people at the bottom of the income ladder would receive little while being hurt by cuts in spending on programs like Medicaid. The add-ons are intended to address a major, if sometimes overlooked, political problem for Republicans when it comes to this year's tax debate: They're mostly just extending temporary provisions that people have been using for years. If that's all they did, many people wouldn't see much change in their tax bills. With the new provisions, Republicans are trying to ensure voters can feel a quick jolt to their personal finances. At the same time, lawmakers are also trying to use the legislation to offset the expected hit to the economy from President Donald Trump's trade wars. 'We want to see the impact of these provisions as quickly as possible,' said Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R-Pa.), a tax writer. The strategy comes with some downsides. For one thing, the additional tax cuts are increasing the bill's cost, no small thing amid the mounting focus on government debt. A plan to raise the cap on state and local tax deductions to $40,000, from $10,000, would cost $33 billion in 2025 alone, TPC says. Some Senate Republicans, calling the provision too expensive, are now trying to ratchet that back to $30,000. It's also hardly a sure thing the plan will actually pay political dividends — Republicans never got much credit from voters for the tax cuts that flowed from their original Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Polling at the time showed many people didn't believe their taxes had gone down. The plan would also put a lot of pressure on Treasury and the IRS, which have faced significant staff cuts, because they would have to quickly sort out the details of how the provisions would work so that people can claim them. That's partly why Republicans are rushing the legislation through Congress, in addition to the need to hike the debt limit, which is also included in the package. 'One of the reasons we've got to get everything done by July is so there's time to get information to people and there's time to be able to get the guidance documents out from the IRS, because that's going to take them months,' said Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), a tax writer. Republicans are trying to get legislation to Trump's desk by their July 4 recess, though lately they've been warning that deadline could slip. The effort has left some observers wondering if Republicans might send checks to millions of taxpayers as downpayments on the tax savings, like they did after former President George W. Bush's tax cuts. That would draw public attention to the new tax cuts, and Trump has periodically teased the idea of sending voters some sort of tariff-related payment. But Republicans say there are no plans for checks. Aside from increasing the child credit and sweetening the SALT deduction, Republicans plan to boost the standard deduction by $2,000 for couples. They're also creating a string of new breaks: a $10,000 deduction for auto-loan interest, a $4,000-per-person deduction for seniors, a $300 break for people who give to charity, deductions for overtime pay and income from tips, and a new tax-preferred investment account for children. Most people would see their taxes go down under the GOP plan, with those in the middle of the income spectrum receiving an average of $830, the Tax Policy Center says. Low-income people projected to benefit would get relatively little, about $250, and the top 20 percent of earners would get about $2,500. Those averages, though, obscure the fact that benefits would vary widely, even among taxpayers with similar incomes, because so many of the new breaks are narrowly targeted at specific groups. Raising the SALT cap to $40,000 would save someone in the top 1 percent of earners about $4,000, TPC estimates. Parents with two kids would see an additional $1,000 from the child credit increase. The auto-loan interest deduction would be worth as much as $1,200 to a couple making $50,000. Altogether, tax cuts for individuals would run about $140 billion this year, according to TPC. Meanwhile, businesses would get retroactive breaks for research, investment and interest expenses, as well as a new break for building factories — which would cost a combined $57 billion through the fiscal year that ends in September, the official Joint Committee on Taxation says. In order for people to claim all of the new benefits, they'll need to know the nitty gritty of how they're supposed to work, and it will be up to the administration to sort that out. The legislation orders Treasury, for example, to come up with a list of occupations that would be eligible for Trump's new tip deduction. The deduction for auto-loan interest would be reserved for vehicles that had 'final assembly' in the U.S., with a complex rule for how that would be determined. Employers will surely have lots of questions about how business breaks are supposed to work as well. 'Every business is going to say, 'What does this mean?'' said Lankford. 'So the earlier we can get this done, the greater the economic effect that can happen this year.'
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
3 dozen House Republicans urge Senate GOP against ‘budget gimmicks,' deficit increases
More than three dozen House Republicans are warning Senate GOP leaders against approving additional deficit increases or using 'budget gimmicks' to count additional savings in the 'one big, beautiful bill' of President Trump's tax cut and spending priorities. 'As the Senate considers changes, we remain unequivocal in our position that any additional tax cuts must be matched dollar-for-dollar by real, enforceable spending reductions,' the 37 members, led by Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R-Pa.), said in a Tuesday letter to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), adding that the principle is the 'cornerstone' of the budget resolution framework passed by the House and is the 'minimum standard for our support.' The letter further asserted that the members would consider 'genuine savings only' as established by that House resolution. 'Offsets must come from permanent reforms that make the budget more sustainable, not timing shifts or other budget gimmicks,' the letter said. Among the signatories are House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas), House Republican Conference Vice Chair Blake Moore (Utah), and many members of the House Freedom Caucus, including its chair, Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.). The Senate is currently considering and expected to make changes to the House-passed megabill that includes extension of tax cuts that Trump signed into law in 2017; boosts to border, deportation, and defense funding; and new restrictions on Medicaid and food assistance programs that are projected to result in millions of individuals losing their health insurance. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated the proposed tax cuts in the plan would decrease revenues by more than $3.6 trillion over a decade, while measures to cut federal spending — including reforms to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — would reduce outlays by $1.2 trillion over the same period, resulting in a net deficit increase of $2.4 trillion. Several matters under consideration in the Senate would add to the deficit impact of the bill. Some GOP senators are unhappy with provisions to terminate clean energy tax breaks, while others are objecting to the around $800 billion in cuts to Medicaid through provisions like increased work requirements and $267 billion in cuts to food assistance through provisions like making states share the cost of the program for the first time. 'A reconciliation bill that relaxes fiscal discipline reflected in the House-passed bill would invite higher borrowing costs and undermine the economic growth that Americans need to maximize opportunity,' the 37 House GOP members said in the letter. 'We urge Senate leadership to keep the reconciliation measure compatible with the House framework while seizing every opportunity to deepen savings.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
10-06-2025
- Business
- The Hill
Three dozen House Republicans urge Senate GOP against ‘budget gimmicks,' deficit increases
More than three dozen House Republicans are warning Senate GOP leaders against approving additional deficit increases or using 'budget gimmicks' to count additional savings in the 'one big beautiful bill' of President Trump's tax cut and spending priorities. 'As the Senate considers changes, we remain unequivocal in our position that any additional tax cuts must be matched dollar-for-dollar by real, enforceable spending reductions,' the 37 members, led by Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R-Pa.), said in a Tuesday letter to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), adding that the principle is the 'cornerstone' of the budget resolution framework passed by the House and is the 'minimum standard for our support.' The letter further asserted that the members would consider 'genuine savings only' as established by that House resolution. 'Offsets must come from permanent reforms that make the budget more sustainable, not timing shifts or other budget gimmicks,' the letter said. Among the signatories are House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas), House Republican Conference Vice Chair Blake Moore (R-Utah), and many members of the House Freedom Caucus, including its chairman Andy Harris (R-Md.). The Senate is currently considering and expected to make changes to the House-passed megabill that includes extension of tax cuts that Trump signed into law in 2017; boosts to border, deportation, and defense funding; and new restrictions on Medicaid and food assistance programs that are project to result in millions of individuals losing their health insurance. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated the proposed tax cuts in the plan would decrease revenues by more than $3.6 trillion over a decade, while measures to cut federal spending — including reforms to Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program —would reduce outlays by $1.2 trillion over the same period, resulting in a net deficit increase of $2.4 trillion. Several matters under consideration in the Senate would add to the deficit impact of the bill. Some GOP senators are unhappy with provisions to terminate clean energy tax breaks, while others are objecting to the around $800 billion in cuts to Medicaid through provisions like increased work requirements and $267 billion in cuts to food assistance through provisions like making states share the cost of the program for the first time. 'A reconciliation bill that relaxes fiscal discipline reflected in the House-passed bill would invite higher borrowing costs and undermine the economic growth that Americans need to maximize opportunity,' the 37 House GOP members said in the letter. 'We urge Senate leadership to keep the reconciliation measure compatible with the House framework while seizing every opportunity to deepen savings.'
Politico
10-06-2025
- Business
- Politico
A new megabill red line
Good Tuesday afternoon. We've been closely following all the megabill action in the Senate, but we've also been keeping an eagle eye on the House. In particular, we've been watching how members have been drawing red lines even after they passed the bill last month and trying to put senators in a box — a big, beautiful box? — as they ponder changes to the legislation. The latest example is just in, exclusive to POLITICO: Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R-Pa.) and 37 other members are warning against the use of 'budget gimmicks' in the Senate version of the megabill — saying they will insist 'that any additional tax cuts ... must be matched dollar for-dollar by real, enforceable spending reductions.' The signers include the likes of Budget Chair Jodey Arrington, Conference Vice Chair Blake Moore and Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris. The upshot for Senate leaders? They will have to be extra careful to find real offsets as they strain to make key business tax provisions permanent, ease the phaseout of clean energy tax incentives and sand down the House's cuts to Medicaid and SNAP. One thing that probably won't pass muster back in the House is simply writing off the costs of extending the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act using the 'current policy baseline' tactic and calling it a day. Add this to the list of emerging House demands on the Senate, which now includes members of the vaunted SALT crew demanding their state-and-local-tax deduction deal stay entirely intact, and Rep. Chip Roy's insistence that the clean energy phaseouts remain untouched, while 13 other House Republicans say they want those same provisions watered down before they vote again. Keep in mind all of this is happening as the House prepares to take yet another crucial megabill vote this week — on a package of changes to the bill to address procedural 'fatalities' under Senate rules. Yes, these are small tweaks, and leadership is likely to present them as a mere 'technical' formalities to members. But it's another reminder of the House GOP's tiny majority and the power that a small handful of members has to grind the process to a halt at just about any moment. WHAT'S STILL COMING TODAY: The House Rules Committee is meeting and will vote this afternoon to establish parameters for floor debate on the White House's rescissions package at 2 p.m., setting up a floor vote that is expected Thursday. The House will vote on multiple bills at 5 p.m., including one that would prohibit non-citizens from voting in the District of Columbia. ICYMI: NRCC chair lays out GOP message on LA protests — Rep. Richard Hudson told House Republicans in a closed-door conference meeting this morning to hammer Democrats on the unrest in Los Angeles, according to people granted anonymity to share details of the private discussion. Hudson, a North Carolina Republican who leads the House GOP's campaign arm, said Americans are 'tired' of 'chaos.' CBC chair goes off-message on LA protests — Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, called President Donald Trump's decision to send 4,000 National Guard members and 700 Marines to Los Angeles an impeachable offense. SecDef sends a message to Dems on LA protests — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth clashed with several Democratic lawmakers today over the California unrest. During a House budget hearing in front of the Defense Appropriations panel, Hegseth argued that California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, both Democrats, mishandled the situation.
