Trump Tax Bill Advances as GOP Speeds Up Medicaid Cuts

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00:00Josh Galoud. Josh, where does the bill head from here?

00:03Well, from here, it's moving on to be debated on the House floor. And, you know,

00:09as you said, it's a long road ahead. So, you know, don't forget that it is a victory for

00:15Johnson to get that out of committee, but it was rejected on Friday. And on Sunday,

00:19when it came through, that was really because the four hardline Republicans who are really

00:24tough on deficit issues, they abstained. They didn't vote for it. They abstained.

00:30And it shows that there are several issues about how to pay for this $3.8 trillion in tax cuts over

00:36the next 10 years that are still out there. You know, Chip Roy, for instance, from Texas,

00:43he's standing in the way. He wants there to be a work requirement for Medicaid for that to kick in

00:49much sooner. There are other Republicans who are pointing towards curbing the subsidies for

00:57clean energy. So there are a lot of things still out there that have to be negotiated.

01:02And it's far from certain that this is going to be a straight road for Johnson.

01:06Well, needs to head after all of that to the Senate as well. And Josh, there is a real fear

01:10among markets this morning, especially after the Moody's downgrade, that deficits are ballooning.

01:15You mentioned some of it there, but is there any really serious conversation

01:18about deficit restraint happening at the moment?

01:21There is conversation about it there. The Hawks are talking about it. But the question is really,

01:26can they get this paid for? So the deficit reduction in particular is really not a focus.

01:34They're just trying to pay for these tax cuts and not add as much to the deficit. So, you know,

01:40if you talk to, again, Chip Roy from Texas, they're going to be concerned about this.

01:45But are they going to stand in the way of a bill that has these massive tax cuts if it's adding less

01:52to the deficit? It seems unlikely, given that they let it pass through. Again, it goes down to their

01:58core demands on some principles and to their districts about what they'll support. But overall,

02:05I don't think we see any real movement in lowering the deficit over time. The Republicans also have

02:11walked back some ideas about raising taxes on the most wealthy. That appears not to be the case.

02:20And at the same time, the projections are not for great growth in the coming quarters and this year.

02:26So, you know, deficits have really not been as much a topic as you would think after the downgrade.