Elon Musk spends “far less” on future political contributions
Elon Musk said he plans to spend “a lot less” on political contributions after supporting Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election.
Scripps News
WASHINGTON – House Republican leaders are back from an optimistic White House meeting that they could possibly vote tonight on President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax and policy package.
But that could be a hopeful way of thinking about Trump’s second term’s most important laws. There, the competing GOP factions make it difficult for the Presidential Party to find the majority of the votes. Several House GOP lawmakers said on May 21 that a group of financially conservative members would not yet support the package as they promote continued spending cuts.
“I think we’re in a very good place. I think all of our colleagues here will really like this final product. I think we’re going to move forward,” R-Louisiana speaker Mike Johnson told reporters when he returned to the U.S. Capitol from a conference at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Republican leaders are expected to present some minor changes to the House bill on the evening of May 21, and then they will decide whether to vote late tonight or tomorrow morning, Johnson said.
The speaker did not say that it was agreed or that members of the Ultra Conservative House Freedom Council were currently on board after raising concerns about the law earlier in the day.
“I think we can resolve their concerns,” Johnson said.
Even Republicans who had raised concerns before were raising them as Trump’s White House tried to mediate the final deal.
“Rising the salt deduction is a relief for the Democratic governor. It is paid by the low-tax red state,” R-Tennessee Rep. John Rose wrote to X.
This is a reference to a tentative agreement to raise state and local tax credit caps to get a group of Republicans from Blue State on board, showing how each new concession will cause problems for another part of the meeting.
With Trump and Johnson’s positive signs, some members of the Free Caucus brought to the White House looked more positive afterwards.
R-Maryland’s Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris said the meeting “good” and the group “has made some progress.” Rep. Clay Higgins R-Louisiana said the group felt “very positive” about the direction of negotiations.
Lawmakers are looking to extend tax cuts, implement new tax cuts for tips and overtime, put more money into border security and defense, and add new restrictions that will benefit programs like Medicaid and food stamps.
The law also includes a $4 trillion debt cap increase. This is an important provision that must be passed before August to avoid potentially catastrophic defaults in national debt.
(This story has been updated with more information.)
