GOP Pushes To Mask $3.8tn Cost Of Trump Tax Cuts As Musk Threatens To Unseat Lawmakers In Primary Next Year
The Senate Republicans continue with a radical economic package which includes the permanent extension of President Donald Trump’s tax reductions – but in a decision that arouses fierce criticism, they use an unprecedented accounting gadget to hide the major part of the price of 3.8 billions of dollars of the bill.
On Monday, the GOP senators voted to adopt the controversial approach to the “current policy”, which deals with Trump’s tax reductions as if they were already permanent – making their cost invisible in the official score effectively. The real impact, however, remains amazing. According to the joint tax committee, the simple fact of extending the 2017 discounts would cost 3.8 dollars over 10 years. However, the official price of the bill includes only $ 693 billion in new provisions – an omission that alarmed budgetary analysts, attracted democratic anger and aroused internal tensions within the Republican Party.
On Sunday, the Budget Office of the Non -Sample Congress (CBO) estimated that the legislation would add 3.3 billions of dollars to the federal deficit over a decade under the current law. The Republicans argue that by measuring the bill against their “current policy” base – which assumes that tax reductions will remain in place – the cost drops to $ 508 billion more acceptable. The opponents, however, say that logic is circular and fundamentally dishonest.
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“Even a preschool child knows that it is magic mathematics,” said senator Patty Murray, the best democrat of the Senate credits committee. “They ransack the rules just to make the invoice cheaper than it is.”
The maneuver allows the Republicans to bypass the traditional budgetary constraints imposed by the reconciliation process of the Senate, which is designed for legislation with a limited budgetary impact. By redefining what counts as a “cost”, GOP legislators can bypass rules which otherwise prevent the bill from adopting with a simple majority.
Senator Lindsey Graham defended this decision by saying: “We will make the tax reductions permanent. We are not doing anything devious. “
Musk declares war on the bill
But apart from the Congress rooms, this decision caused a storm of political fire – Elon Musk leading the charge.
The technological billionaire launched a scathing attack on legislation on Monday afternoon, a few hours before the Senate vote. By taking to X (formerly Twitter), Musk warned that any republican who supports the bill should be ready to deal with the main elections of next year.
“Each member of the congress who campaigned on reducing public spending, then immediately voted for the greatest increase in the debt in history should suspend his head,” Musk wrote. “And they will lose their primary next year if this is the last thing I do on this earth.”
Musk, who previously promised to reduce political spending, now seems ready to pay resources in the financing of challengers against the Republicans whom he accuses of hypocrisy. His remarks highlight the growing tension between the Republicans aligned by Trump who push for massive tax lightening and tax conservatives – including high -level donors – alarmed by the deterioration of the prospects of the debt of the United States.
Musk has long expressed his frustration in the face of public spending, but his recent quarrel with Trump, as well as the decline by the bill on green energy incentives, seems to have rekindled his political commitment.
What is in the bill?
Beyond the extension of Trump’s tax reductions in 2017, the legislation includes nearly $ 700 billion in additional tax provisions. In particular, it provides a five -year increase in the state and local tax deduction ceiling (salt), which largely benefits residents of high tax states. The inclusion of temporary cuts, rather than permanent, is designed to reduce the apparent cost – a tactic used in the original legislation of 2017.
Trump has repeatedly urged Congress to adopt what he calls “a great magnificent bill” by July 4. The Senate is expected to vote on final adoption on Tuesday, while the Chamber could adopt legislation on Wednesday.
The package is a centerpiece of Trump’s economic agenda in 2025 and is considered a crucial test of the Republican unit before the November elections. While the president continues to come together behind the bill, the opposition of tax hawks and mega-donors as Musk can complicate efforts to maintain the intact GOP coalition.
Budget experts warn that the GOP’s accounting trick establishes a dangerous precedent. If legislators standardize the rating of massive tax reductions as having no cost, this could open the door to an increasingly reckless budgetary policy. Debt levels already planned to reach records during the next decade, some economists think that the strategy could further erode confidence in American budget management.
