Trump’s agenda faces crucial stretch with House Republicans this week : NPR

By the end of this month, House Republicans hope to finalise details of President Trump’s “big beautiful bill,” including changes to tax, immigration and energy policy sweep. House speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. already muscular blueprints for plans to pass through the Chamber of Commerce. But this week, three major House committees are putting pens on paper that define policies that will broadly impact their healthcare for Americans’ pocketbooks and many others.

Johnson balances demand between two competing camps within the meeting. Swing District Republicans are worried about dramatic cuts to their safety net programs, and general tax incentives could put a risk to the prospect of reelection. More conservative members claim that voters installed GOP triple equipment to reduce the deficit and restructure government programs.

“I think the final product is advantageous for everyone,” Johnson predicted last week.

The fiscal equation Republicans are trying to settle is how to reach the $1.5 trillion spending cuts sought in the blueprint to offset the costs of extending President Trump’s 2017 tax cuts. The majority of GOP conferences view their actual target as a savings of $2 trillion.

Last week, Texas Republican Chip Roy told reporters there were still almost “20 plus issues” that needed to be resolved. Johnson hopes to obtain the bill to the House and Senate by anniversary, with the goal of having it to President Trump for his signature by July 4th.

However, the true deadline for Republicans is mid-July. At that time, Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent says Congress needs to increase the country’s borrowing authority to avoid potentially catastrophic government defaults. The GOP Leader plans to increase the debt cap for five years with this package.

The time frame will be tested as Republicans seek to resolve the most controversial and widespread policies in the coming days. Here’s a quick look at some of the squealing points.

Medicaid

Republicans are considering various structural changes in the joint federal/state healthcare programs they cover. Approximately 72 million Low-income, elderly, and Americans with disabilities. Released by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees the program. Their planned changes Late Sunday, it focuses on a handful of reforms that are widely supported by both conservative GOP lawmakers.

They are working on adding work requirements for “healthy” adults receiving benefits, registrants are required to report working at least 80 hours. They also outlined changes to parts of the registration process and placed restrictions on the state’s ability to raise taxes on health care providers. The bill also references the comprehensive goal of eliminating “waste, fraud and abuse” within the program.

What is missing from the committee’s proposal is a dramatic change in how governments pay for expanding Medicaid to increase eligibility for low-income, childless working-age adults as part of the Affordable Care Act. Conservative hardliners have driven a decline in federal contribution to the state with this expanded coverage. The plan also does not include the per-person cap on federal spending that some lawmakers have sought.

Consultations continue this week, and it is unclear how the proposed changes will be played among the divided house GOPs that require near-complete unification to pass the final spending bill. The proposed changes to Medicaid are expected to enjoy an additional $170 billion in savings and at least $71.5 billion in savings from additional changes not related to Medicaid. estimate By the Nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. As a result of these changes, the CBO also found that at least 8.6 million people will lose their health insurance in the next decade.

Extending Trump’s tax cuts

Republicans are proposing a 2017 Trump tax cut, which expires permanently at the end of 2025. To them Complete plan released on Mondaythe House Committee on Methods and Means added a new tax credit that the president campaigned in 2024. But if Republicans can’t reach a $1.5 trillion spending cut to offset the costs of tax cuts, they will be forced to reduce their ambitions.

One potential revenue stream lacking in the plan is the new income tax on high-income people. President Trump has allowed high-income earners (people who earn between $2.4 million and $5 million) to 37% to 39.6%. But on Friday he pulled back from there and wrote on social media to support the “small” change, but Democrats will use it as a campaign issue against Republicans. “Republicans probably shouldn’t do that, but if that’s the case I’ll be fine!!!” Trump said.

President Trump will speak at a press conference at the Roosevelt Room at the White House on Monday. Trump said Republicans shouldn’t “probably raise taxes on high-income people,” but if that’s the case, I’ll be fine!!!”

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Johnson and other top GOP leaders are on records against tax hikes.

The plan, published by the Ways and Means committee, establishes a new type of trust known as the “Maga account.” This represents a “money account for growth and progress.” Based on the text of the bill, it appears to be a tax-free trust created by the federal government for young Americans. Up to $5,000 can enter your account each year, and beneficiaries can use the funds to pay for higher education, small businesses and first homes. It will end when the beneficiary turns 31.

salt

One of the most controversial issues remaining in budget consultations is also one of its most obscure. State and local tax credits, or salt.

The 2017 tax bill limits how much taxpayers in some (mostly blue states) could deduct state and local taxes at $10,000 a year. During the 2024 reelection campaign, Trump vowed to remove the cap, but doing so adds a significant cost to the GOP package, with most Senate Republicans not supporting the cap being scrapped.

The fight over salt is expected to be a major sticking point when the Ways and Means Commission begins markup for the bill on Tuesday. The committee proposed raising the salt cap to $30,000. However, a small number of GOP lawmakers representing districts in local property tax states such as New York, New Jersey and California are seeking a higher cap. They argue that the bill should include a provision for the North number of $30,000.

Rep. Nick Lalota (RN.Y.) was a solid advocate for the higher deductions as part of the bill. He told reporters last week that there was “more things to go now” in the debate, but he believes Republicans will eventually reach a deal. The problem is the red line for him and at least four other colleagues. And their opposition could sink the bill as Republicans cling to a thin razor majority in the House.

“Unless there’s an amendment to salt, there’s no bill,” Larota said. “The five of us will not vote for the bill unless there is an amendment to salt.”

Federal Food Aid

Republicans are also debating plans to move some of the supplementary nutrition support program (SNAP) costs to the state. Some Republicans representing the Swing District warn that they would not reduce profits from changes to the program.