After weeks of division and strife, House Republicans have at least agreed on part of the president’s tax agenda.
As the weekend drew near, President Donald Trump’s dream of a big beautiful bill seemed to be going nowhere fast. But after struggling to agree on much of anything, House Republicans have finally settled on a tax plan – or part of one, anyway – just in the nick of time. Bill markup is expected to begin Tuesday, May 13.
Big Beautiful Bill – Birthing Pains
As reported by Liberty Nation News Friday morning, the president’s big beautiful bill was suffering some birthing pains – and it wasn’t clear the bundle of legislative love would make it. Republicans in the House couldn’t agree on SALT caps, taxing the rich, meddling with Medicaid, raising the debt limit, or adding to the deficit.
But now it seems the GOP has come together in the spirit of compromise and settled at least some of those issues. The newly revealed tax plan, as reported by Fox News, includes increasing the maximum child tax credit (from $2,000 to $2,500), a higher threshold for estate tax (death tax) liability (from $13.9 million to $15 million), boosts the maximum deduction for qualified business income (from 20% to 22%), and establishes the foundation of a plan to make Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent.
There’s no information so far regarding state and local tax (SALT) deduction caps, however. And that has been a point of contention for Republicans in high-tax blue states. There also isn’t a new tax bracket for millionaires, as proposed by President Trump, to bring up federal revenue by increasing slightly the tax burden for those with incomes over $2.5 million.
That doesn’t mean, however, that the final version of the bill won’t include those measures. The Ways & Means Committee is expected to advance a full version of the legislation on Tuesday. It’s also expected to include Trump’s pledges to eliminate taxes on tips, overtime, and Social Security checks.
Another idea being floated by House Republicans is using the bill to defund abortions. Fox News Digital cites two sources “close to the House Energy & Commerce Committee,” reporting that lawmakers hope to cut the funding of groups that provide abortions and receive federal Medicaid funds.
A Rough Road to Reconciliation
In spite of this latest release, the road to one big beautiful bill remains rough. The issues not yet settled – like SALT and new tax brackets – are critical points for some, and the House GOP only have a three-vote margin, meaning they can’t afford to lose many votes and still pass their package on to the Senate.
Then the bill must pass the Senate with a simple majority (thanks to the reconciliation process) – but that means the final deliverable must be agreeable to nearly all Senate Republicans, a feat the House has yet to accomplish this go around.
The release of the legislation shows significant progress has been made. Still, the GOP has been forced to delay its initial self-imposed deadline of having a bill on the Resolute Desk for signing between Memorial Day and the Fourth of July. Nevertheless, the president’s one big beautiful bill has never been closer to fruition – and it now seems more likely than ever he’ll be able to sign what may come to be his legislative magnum opus before the 2026 midterms.
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