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☆ 'On life support': Senate Republicans are prepared to sink the child tax credit bill
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-10 | by ( Sahil Kapur | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Teddy bears, meant to represent West Virginia children, appear on the National Mall during an event with the Unbearable Campaign to urge Congress to expand the Child Tax Credit on Wednesday, February 2, 2022. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., a member of the Finance Committee, said he'd be happy to see the entire tax bill fade away. Saying the bill would "create entitlement spending that would generate significantly higher deficits," he called for spending cuts to fund the child tax credit expansion. He said there's "no question" Senate Republicans are trying to sink the bill to deny President Joe Biden an achievement in an election year. "This tax bill looks like, to me, it's in very serious trouble," he said Tuesday.

Persons: Teddy, Jason Smith, Ron Wyden, Sen, Thom Tillis, he'd, Tillis, Mike Crapo of, Mitch McConnell, Crapo, Chuck Grassley, , Grassley, who's, Richard Neal, Joe Biden, Josh Hawley, Wyden, We're, Donald Trump, that's, Chuck Schumer, he'll, we'll, Schumer Organizations: Republicans, House, Senate, Republican, Democrats, Democratic, Finance, Finance Committee, GOP, NBC, Manhattan Project Locations: West Virginia, Mike Crapo of Idaho, Iowa

President Joe Biden’s Cabinet secretaries will be advocating for the foreign aid to a mostly friendly audience in the Senate, where majority Democrats and many Republicans support tying aid for the two countries together. Despite growing questions about the Ukraine aid within the Republican conference, Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell has forcefully advocated tying the aid for Ukraine and Israel together. As they returned to Washington on Monday night, Senate Republicans who support the Ukraine aid were uncertain of the path forward. 2 Senate Republican, said it could complicate Democrats’ efforts to pass the two together if there were a bipartisan vote for the Israel aid alone in the House. In recent weeks, though, a growing group of Senate Republicans have joined the majority of House Republicans who are advocating to slow down or stop U.S. aid to Ukraine.

Persons: Lloyd Austin, Antony Blinken, Joe Biden’s, Mike Johnson, Biden, ”, Chuck Schumer, Vladimir Putin, Patty Murray, Maine Sen, Susan Collins, ” Murray, Mitch McConnell, Oksana Markarova, ” Markarova, embolden Putin, Sen, John Thune of, Thune, Republican Sen, Joni Ernst, Iowa, Ohio Sen, J.D, Vance, Putin, Johnson, Schumer, “ we're, Richard Neal, Ron Wyden, ” Wyden, Karine Jean, Pierre, ” “, —, Seung Min Kim, Fatima Hussein, Tara Copp Organizations: WASHINGTON, —, Senate, Republican, Internal Revenue Service, Republicans, Hamas, Senate Republicans, House Republicans, Fox News, Democrat, New York Rep, White, Associated Press Locations: United States, Israel, Ukraine, America, Russia, Taiwan, China, U.S, Mexico, Ukrainian, Kentucky, Washington, John Thune of South Dakota, Ohio

☆ America’s Debt Crisis Burns While Congress Fiddles
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-20 | by ( Tim Smart | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +9 min

Last month, the Penn Wharton Budget Model from the University of Pennsylvania came out with an analysis of the debt crisis entitled “When Does Federal Debt Reach Unsustainable Levels?”Their answer? The concern is that punting the problem into the future, continuing to raise debt even as interest rates rise further or hold at higher levels for longer, the debt will grow even faster in a “snowball” scenario. Similar proposals have been offered over the years but at the same time they seem to lack political support – indeed, Republicans have recently voiced the idea of cutting Social Security. The debt crisis is rapidly worsening at a time when the bond market is having its own set of problems. A recent government auction of debt, an occurrence that is becoming more common as the U.S. borrows more, saw weak demand.

Persons: Dick Cheney, Richard Neal, Democrats –, Blu Putnam, Alan Greenspan, Ben Bernanke, Jerome Powell, ”, Gene Steuerle, Richard B, Fisher, probity, Kevin McCarthy, Kent Smetters, Boettner, Smetters, Richard Robis, Donald Trump Organizations: Capitol, Democratic, Massachusetts, The New York Times, Federal Reserve, Partisans, Democrats, Fed, CME Group, Social Security, Medicare, Urban Institute, California Rep, Penn Wharton Budget, University of Pennsylvania, University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, Wharton, Social, Republicans, Treasury, Hamas, BCA Research, White House Locations: U.S, United States, Washington, China, Japan, Israel

It would take the support of only a handful of Republicans to remove McCarthy as speaker, should Democrats vote in favor alongside the conservative rebels. Let’s get on with it, McCarthy told his colleagues in a closed-door meeting, according to a Republican in the room granted anonymity to discuss it. At the Capitol, both Republicans and Democrats met privately behind closed doors ahead of what would be a historic afternoon vote. “I think it’s safe to say there’s not a lot of good will in that room for Kevin McCarthy,” said Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass. It’s up to McCarthy to get himself out.”“We are always the adults in the room,” said Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger.

Persons: Kevin McCarthy, what's, Matt Gaetz, McCarthy, Let’s, haven’t, ” McCarthy, “ I’m, Joseph Cannon, Cannon, ”, Ralph Norman, Gaetz, Hakeem Jeffries, Richard Neal, Brad Schneider, “ McCarthy, Abigail Spanberger, “ Organizations: WASHINGTON, Democrats, ”, Republican, Republicans, Capitol, CNBC, Caucus, Democratic Locations: Florida

That bill would have cut spending and imposed immigration and border security restrictions, Republican priorities that had little chance of passing the Democratic-majority Senate. "It's not the end yet; I've got other ideas," Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told reporters following the defeat of a bill he had backed. Social Security payments themselves would continue. Lawmakers are not considering cuts to popular benefit programs such as Social Security and Medicare. Several hardliners have threatened to oust McCarthy from his leadership role if he passes a spending bill that requires any Democratic votes to pass, an outcome almost guaranteed given that any successful House bill must also pass the Senate, controlled by Democrats 51-49.

Persons: Kevin McCarthy, Jonathan Ernst, It's, I've, Joe Biden, Janet Yellen, creditworthiness, Biden, Mark Milley's, McCarthy, Hakeem Jeffries, Donald Trump, Biden's, Dan Crenshaw, Richard Neal, Moira Warburton, David Morgan, Scott Malone, Alistair Bell, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: Capitol, REUTERS, Rights, Republicans, U.S . House, Democratic, Republican, National Park Service, Securities and Exchange, Treasury, Social, Social Security, Democrats, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, U.S, Mexico

☆ Hardline Republican holdouts push U.S. government closer to shutdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-29 | by ( Moira Warburton | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Republican hardliners have said they will not take up a Senate bill to fund the government through Nov. 17, which has advanced with broad bipartisan support, including that of top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell. Lawmakers are not considering cuts to popular benefit programs such as Social Security and Medicare. Former President Donald Trump, Biden's likely election opponent in 2024, has taken to social media to push his congressional allies toward a shutdown. A shutdown will also delay vital economic data releases, which could trigger financial market volatility, and delay the date that retirees learn how much their Social Security payments will rise next year. Social Security payments themselves would continue.

Persons: Kevin McCarthy, Craig Hudson, Joe Biden, Republican Mitch McConnell, Moody's, creditworthiness, McCarthy, Biden, Donald Trump, Biden's, Dan Crenshaw, Mike Garcia, Richard Neal, I've, Marc Molinaro, Moira Warburton, Scott Malone 私 Organizations: Capitol, REUTERS, Rights, U.S, Republicans, National Park Service, Securities and Exchange, Democratic, Republican, Social Security, Democrats, Reuters, Senate, Moderate, Social Locations: Washington , U.S, U.S, Mexico

CNN —House Democrats have begun internal discussions about how to deal with the prospects of a chaotic situation: The possibility that Speaker Kevin McCarthy could lose his job in an unprecedented vote on the floor. One of the strategies being discussed by Democrats is to vote “present” or vote to kill it all together if a motion to oust McCarthy is brought to the floor. Bacon warned that he would cut a deal with Democrats if they reach an impasse with conservative hardliners. Democrats considering bailing out McCarthy say it wouldn’t necessarily stop there. If McCarthy were challenged, it may only take a handful of Democrats to save him.

Persons: Kevin McCarthy, McCarthy, Hakeem Jeffries, he’d, McCarthy’s speakership, Jeffries, Dan Kildee of, “, Kevin can’t, –, ”, Joe Biden –, you’re, ” It’s, Matt Gaetz, Gaetz, Don Bacon, Bacon, Biden, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Dean Phillips, you’d, Paul Ryan, John Boehner –, Richard Neal of, ” Rep, Mary Gay Scanlon Organizations: CNN — House Democrats, Publicly, Democratic, ” Democratic, CNN, GOP, Democrats, Freedom Caucus, Republican, Republicans, Capitol, House, Florida, Dean Phillips of, Richard Neal of Massachusetts, ”, Pennsylvania Locations: Dan Kildee of Michigan, Florida, Nebraska, Dean Phillips of Minnesota

☆ US House Republicans unveil broad package of tax cuts
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Richard Cowan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Three related bills were introduced on Friday with the goal of moving the legislation through the House Ways and Means Committee next week. Democrats already were focusing on whether the tax legislation could add to the ballooning federal debt. Representative Richard Neal, the panel's senior Democrat, said Republicans were "laying the groundwork for even bigger cuts in 2025" when provisions of the 2017 tax law expire. Republicans, who control the House, introduced the proposals days after Biden, a Democrat, signed into law legislation Republicans sought to begin addressing the rapidly-growing debt with about $1.3 trillion in spending cuts. Other provisions include an expansion of tax benefits for small start-up enterprises to "S Corporations," while eliminating some "red tape" that small businesses experience related to contract workers.

Persons: Joe Biden's, Jason Smith, Richard Neal, Neal, Biden, Richard Cowan, Paul Simao, Diane Craft Organizations: U.S . House, Taxation, Big Oil, Republicans, Child Tax, Democratic, Thomson Locations: U.S, American

"The Republicans have raised the debt limit. McCarthy bridged deep divides among House Republicans to get the bill passed. McCarthy called on Biden to begin negotiations on a debt limit increase and spending-cut bill and for the Senate to either approve the House bill or to pass its own. The House bill would increase Washington's borrowing authority by $1.5 trillion or until March 31, whichever comes first, raising the specter of another round of negotiations during the 2024 presidential campaign. The White House has called on Congress to raise the debt limit without conditions, as it did three times under Biden's Republican predecessor, Donald Trump.

A 2011 standoff led to a downgrade of the government's credit rating, which pushed borrowing costs higher and hammered investments. "The Republicans have raised the debt limit. McCarthy called on Biden to begin negotiations on a debt limit increase and spending-cut bill and for the Senate to either approve the House bill or to pass its own. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) walks following a closed door meeting on Captiol Hill in Washington, U.S., April 26, 2023. The White House has called on Congress to raise the debt limit without conditions, as it did three times under Biden's Republican predecessor, Donald Trump.

Failure to raise the debt ceiling would lead to default that would shake the U.S. and world economies. McCarthy said the package would lower spending by $4.5 trillion over the coming 10 years. Biden reiterated his position that Congress should raise the $31.4 trillion debt limit without conditions, as it did three times under his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump. POTENTIAL CONSEQUENCESThe nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget praised McCarthy's plan as a "realistic and extremely welcome first step." A lengthy 2011 standoff over the debt ceiling led to a first-ever downgrade of the federal government's credit rating, which rattled markets and raised borrowing costs.

☆ U.S. House brawl over McCarthy raises worries about Republican governance
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( David Morgan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Republicans captured a thin House majority in November's midterm elections, breaking the hold of President Joe Biden's Democrats on both chambers of Congress. That infuriated many House Republicans, including some who are now leading the opposition to McCarthy and demanding greater control over the House agenda. Republican Representative Andy Biggs at the time called McConnell's deal "offensive and dangerous." Lawmakers tried to remove House speakers by invoking the rule in 1910 and in 2015, when former Republican Speaker John Boehner resigned after a hardline conservative filed a request to oust him. Boehner and his successor as speaker, fellow Republican Paul Ryan, both left the post after conflict with conservative hardliners whose influence has since grown.

☆ The Trump Tax Return Precedent
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

House Democrats released Donald Trump’s tax returns to the public on Friday, four days before they lose their majority, and in the process did more harm to their reputation than to the former President’s. The dump is a violation of taxpayer privacy with no legislative purpose, and it could open an ugly new battlefield in American politics. The Ways and Means Committee released Mr. Trump’s individual and business filings from 2015 to 2020. The release caps Chairman Richard Neal ’s yearslong campaign, which he claims is meant to expose the Internal Revenue Service for slow-footing mandatory audits of the President. “Our review found that under the prior Administration the program was dormant,” Mr. Neal said in defense of the document dump.

Friday’s release of former President Donald Trump’s tax returns from his four years in the White House and two years prior is an important and long overdue public service. It also would have been a warning shot to any future presidents who may want to keep their tax returns private. ), chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, asked the agency for information related to Trump’s tax returns. Ultimately, though, it’s on House Democrats that the Trump tax documents release on Friday were so limited. So they couched their court case as looking into the effectiveness of mandatory IRS audits of tax returns of all sitting presidents.

☆ Newly released tax returns reveal Trump paid more in foreign taxes than US income tax for years
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Trump's tax returns were released by the House Ways and Means Committee after years of legal battles. They reveal details about years he paid more in foreign taxes than US income tax. In several years, according to AP, he paid more in foreign taxes related to his international business dealings than he did in income tax to the United States. AP reported Trump paid $641,931 in federal income taxes in 2015, as he began his campaign for president, but paid just $750 in 2016 and 2017. While the recently released tax documents reveal previously unknown information about the former president's finances, they are not proof of legal wrongdoing.

☆ U.S. House committee releases Trump tax returns he sought to keep secret
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Moira Warburton | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/2] Donald Trump departs Trump Tower two days after FBI agents raided his Mar-a-Lago Palm Beach home, in New York City, New york, U.S., August 10, 2022. The nearly 6,000 pages of records include over 2,700 pages of personal returns from Trump and his wife Melania Trump, plus more than 3,000 pages of returns from his businesses. Trump, a businessman who held public office for the first time when he entered the White House in 2017, was the first presidential candidate in decades not to release his tax returns. Neal first requested the returns in 2019, arguing that Congress needed them to determine if legislation on presidential tax returns was warranted. Representative Kevin Brady, the House panel's top Republican, warned that future committee chairmen will have "nearly unlimited" power to make public the tax returns of private citizens, including "political enemies".

☆ U.S. House committee releases Trump tax returns, capping years-long battle
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Moira Warburton | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Donald Trump departs Trump Tower two days after FBI agents raided his Mar-a-Lago Palm Beach home, in New York City, New york, U.S., August 10, 2022. REUTERS/David 'Dee' Delgado//File Photo/File PhotoDec 30 (Reuters) - A Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives committee released six years of former President Donald Trump's tax returns to the public on Friday in an extraordinary move days before Republicans are due to take control of the chamber. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal requested the returns in 2019, arguing that Congress needed them to determine if legislation on presidential tax returns was warranted. Trump, who took office in 2017, was the first presidential candidate in decades not to release his taxes. They show Trump and his wife Melania Trump claimed large deductions and losses and paid little or no income tax in several of those years.

☆ Here's how much money Donald Trump told the IRS he made each year from 2015 to 2020, according to his personal tax returns
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The House Ways and Means Committee released Trump's tax returns to the public on Friday. The documents reveal details of the former president's personal finances from 2015 to 2020. They also include how much Trump told the Internal Revenue Research he made each year. Significantly, the documents released on Friday show much he and former first lady Melanie Trump told the Internal Revenue Service they made on their jointly-filed personal tax returns from 2015 to 2020. Committee Chairman Richard Neal first requested the documents from the Internal Revenue Service in 2019.

☆ Trump says Democrats 'weaponized' his tax returns while simultaneously boasting that the records show what a clever businessman he is
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Sonam Sheth | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Trump accused Democrats of weaponizing his tax returns against him. But he simultaneously said the documents, released Friday, show he's a savvy businessman. The documents released Friday — which span thousands of pages — showed that Trump and then First Lady Melania Trump reported millions in losses from 2015 to 2020. The Trump Organization now has felony status and could be ordered to pay up to $1.6 million in fees when it's sentenced next month. That's in addition to the $250 million civil lawsuit that New York Attorney General Letitia James' office filed against Trump, his three eldest children, and the Trump Organization in September.

Ali Alexander said he believed White House wanted him to lead rallygoers to Capitol "Stop The Steal" organizer Ali Alexander believed the White House wanted him to lead attendees of Trump's Jan. 6 rally to the Capitol, the report said. Alex Jones, who has claimed the White House told him to lead the march, texted Wren at 12:27 p.m. Finally one of the staffers told Trump they thought he should focus on his speech. Trump told Jan. 6 demonstrators at the Capitol in a Twitter video that he loved them but that they should go home. The information was expected to be available as soon as Thursday — the day the House Jan. 6 committee is set to issue its final report on the riot.

House Democrats are scrutinizing why the Internal Revenue Service failed to fully audit Donald Trump's tax returns when he was in the White House, despite an agency policy mandating such a review. Some insight into the lapse came in a report Tuesday from the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT), a bipartisan congressional panel that examined Trump's tax returns from 2015-20. The JCT report was issued Tuesday, after the House Ways and Means Committee voted to make Trump's 2015-20 tax returns public. Trump was the first president not to make his tax returns public since the 1970s. Neal is pressing for legislation that would require the IRS to publish and audit presidential tax returns.

☆ The Democratic Trump Tax-Return Dump
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

President Trump’s Democratic critics have broken another political norm, and it’s a big one. On Tuesday the House Ways and Means Committee voted to release six years of Mr. Trump’s tax returns. The Chairman of Ways and Means has power under the law to look at private taxpayer data but must demonstrate a legitimate legislative purpose. During the 2016 campaign, Mr. Trump refused to release his tax returns, and we criticized him for it. Mr. Trump resisted, and Mr. Neal finally won in court last month.

☆ Following Trump tax revelations, U.S. House passes bill to boost oversight
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Andy Sullivan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Trump's tax records show that his income and tax liability fluctuated dramatically between 2015 and 2020, during his first presidential bid and subsequent term in office. They show that Trump and his wife Melanie minimized their tax liability through large deductions and losses and paid little or no income tax in several of those years. Though the IRS is supposed to audit presidents' tax returns each year, it did not do so until Democrats pressed for action in 2019. The legislation passed by the House would require the IRS to examine presidential tax returns each year and report on the status of those audits. Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, a Democrat, said the legislation aimed to strengthen presidential oversight, not target Trump.

☆ IRS Urged to Examine Donald Trump’s Loans to His Children
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Laura Saunders | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Donald Trump made loans to his children Ivanka, Donald and Eric that the Internal Revenue Service should scrutinize, according to a recommendation by the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation to House Ways & Means Committee Chair Richard Neal (D., Mass.). The suggestion was part of the staff’s analysis of Mr. Trump’s tax returns for 2015-2020. According to the report, Mr. Trump declared a total of $51,000 of interest paid to him by his three older children for each tax year from 2015 through 2019. For 2020, the amount of interest dropped to $46,000. The report questioned whether these related-party loans, as they are known, were “bona fide arms-length transactions” or were disguised gifts that should be taxable to Mr. Trump.

WASHINGTON, Dec 20 (Reuters) - A U.S. House of Representatives committee voted on Tuesday to release partially redacted tax filings from former President Donald Trump and said tax authorities had failed to properly scrutinize his returns while he was in office. The House Ways and Means Committee voted to release a summary of Trump's tax returns between 2015 and 2021, the years when he was running for president and serving in the White House, panel members said. Committee chairman Richard Neal, a Democrat, said a redacted summary of Trump's tax returns would be released within days. Trump has said that he cannot release his tax returns because they were being examined by the IRS. Another House committee on Monday asked federal prosecutors to prosecute Trump for sparking the deadly Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021.

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