Senate GOP Advances Tax Cut Extension, Claims It Won’t Add To Deficit

Senate Republicans are advancing a plan to extend key provisions of Donald Trump’s 2017 tax law—valued at $3.8 trillion—while claiming the move will not increase the national deficit, Bloomberg News reporters Natasha Solo-Lyons and David E. Rovella reported.

The proposed tax cuts primarily benefit corporations and high-income individuals.

Critics, including Democrats, have called the GOP's plan an accounting illusion designed to satisfy both Trump and fiscal conservatives.

The proposed tax cuts, which primarily benefit corporations and high-income individuals, are expected to come at the expense of social safety-net programs like Medicaid and food assistance.

“This is magic math. Even a preschooler knows it,” said Senator Patty Murray of Washington, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee. She accused Republicans of “trashing the rules” to pass the bill.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina pushed back, saying there was nothing “sneaky” about the legislation.

However, the bill could push the national debt beyond $40 trillion. Global markets have reacted uneasily, with the anticipated increase in bond issuance expected to pressure long-term Treasuries.