Congressman Thomas Massie (R-KY) blasted the Trump administration’s claim that the GOP’s proposed “big, beautiful bill” would be deficit-neutral, calling the assertion “a joke” on Tuesday morning.
When pressed by a reporter about the White House’s defense that the bill wouldn’t add to the deficit, Massie didn’t hold back.
@cnn Conservative hardliner Rep. Thomas Massie told CNN’s Manu Raju the White House’s insistence that President Donald Trump’s major policy bill would not raise the US deficit is “a joke.” #trump #congress #GOP ♬ original sound – CNN
“Over here, the people in favor of this bill say that under the policies of this bill, we’re going to add $20 trillion to debt over the next 10 years, which is three and a half to five trillion more than would have been added otherwise. And that’s just a fact. And that’s under rosy assumptions,” he said.
The reporter repeated the White House’s characterization of the bill as “deficit neutral.” “Now that’s a joke,” Massie fired back as he shook his head.
The criticism follows reporting from Punchbowl News that House Speaker Mike Johnson privately offered a new proposal to the SALT Caucus to raise the state and local tax deduction cap to $40,000 for incomes up to $751,000, with no marriage penalty — a move intended to gain support from moderate Republicans in high-tax states. The cap would revert to $30,000 after four years.
“This carve-out for affluent people in states like New York and California will increase the deficit substantially and is a reversal of Trump’s first term tax policy,” Massie said.
Tensions between Massie and the Trump camp are nothing new. Massie was the lone Republican holdout who refused to vote for Trump-endorsed Johnson to retain his role as House Speaker in January. Since Massie’s vocal opposition to deficit increases in the “big, beautiful bill,” Trump has targeted Massie to be ousted from the party.
When questioned about Massie’s opposition on Tuesday morning, Trump retorted: “I don’t think Thomas Massie understands government. I think he’s a grand-stander, frankly…I think he should be voted out of office.”
Massie has previously dismissed Trump’s attacks. “My constituents prefer transparency and principles over blind allegiance,” he wrote on X.
Johnson faces a steep climb in the delicate task of satisfying both sides of his party while fulfilling Trump’s promise not to raise the deficit.
Originally published on Latin Times
