YOWSAHS
Congressional Republicans must really be feeling their oats, and it is long past the time they did.
No one thought Speaker Johnson would manage to get a budget resolution through and that the Senate had one-upped up with theirs, even though Trump preferred the House version.
Didn't he drop a present in laps last night?
President Donald Trump’s tax cuts, border, defense, and energy promises are one step closer to enactment after the U.S. House narrowly passed its $4.5 trillion budget resolution Tuesday night, officially kickstarting the budget reconciliation process.
Following hours of Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., convincing Republican holdouts to commit, a brief cancellation of the vote, and then an abrupt recalling of all House members, the resolution passed 217-215 and now heads to the Senate.
Republicans have a majority in the upper chamber with 53 members to the Democrats' 45 and two independents caucusing with them.
The passage of the House budget resolution was far from certain.
Both the high price tag and the steep spending cuts worried some Republicans, with centrists opposed to possible slashes to Medicaid and fiscal hardliners revolting against the estimated tens of trillions of dollars the resolution could add to the federal deficit over the next 10 years.
Besides extending the 2017 Trump tax cuts for at least 10 years at the cost of $4.5 trillion, the resolution authorizes a $300 billion increase in defense and border security spending, to be split among the Armed Services, Homeland Security, and Judiciary committees.
There were threats by the four of the hardcore GOP holdouts to vote 'no,', and Johnson could only lose two of them. But in the end, only Thomas Massie held to his 'nay.'
There are competing budget resolutions on the table now, but it's an easy task for the Senate, should they do so, to approve the House version.
...If the Trump tax cuts expire, the average taxpayer will have a 22% tax hike as well as their guaranteed deduction slashed in half, according to data from the House Ways and Means Committee. The child tax credit would also reduce from $2,000 per child to $1,000 per child.
Republicans have said if there will be any changes to Medicaid – something the resolution does not explicitly say – it would be through modernizing the program, not widespread cuts.
“Once again, this resolution does not cut a single specific program or benefit,” Rep. Erin Houchin, R-Ind., told lawmakers. “The Democrats are speaking fear, not facts. Democrats have told these lies before and were proven wrong. The Democrats want to continue four more years of Bidenomics; we want to put us on a path to prosperity.”
Because the reconciliation process is not subject to the Senate filibuster, Republican senators can adopt the House’s budget resolution by a simple majority vote.
But the fate of the House’s plan remains uncertain because Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., already pushed forward a completely different budget resolution. Thune’s fully offset $342 billion Senate bill funds most of Trump’s legislative priorities but leaves the monumental tax cut extension and debt ceiling increase for a later date.
The chambers must adopt identical budget resolutions before they can move forward in the reconciliation process. Thune previously said the Senate version is merely a “backup plan” in case the House’s resolution didn’t advance.
What got lost in all the budget excitement was a bill Republicans had previously introduced that had people ecstatic this afternoon when they found out about it. As presented by Rep Troy E. Nehls (R-TX-22), the beautifully named Endowment Tax Fairness Act would raise the tax on the endowments of private schools that were sitting on cash hoards of $500K per student or more from 1.4% to 21%.
...“Elite private universities have accumulated and sit on massive university endowments and pay a tax less than 2% on the investment earnings of their endowments, which is far lower than what most hardworking Americans pay in taxes,” said Congressman Nehls. “Meanwhile, these universities have significantly increased tuition on America’s youth, which has overwhelmingly surpassed the average annual inflation rate. This is unacceptable. My bill would put elite universities with massive endowments on notice by holding them to the same tax standard as corporations.”
Specifically, the Endowment Tax Fairness Act would:
- Raise the excise tax levied on annual private university endowment profits from 1.4% to 21%, in line with the corporate tax rate, beginning after the date of enactment of the legislation.
- Only apply to private colleges and universities with 500 or more students with an aggregate fair market value of assets of at least $500,000 per student of the institution, and more than 50% of the student body is located within the United States.
- Revenue derived from this bill would be deposited in the general fund of the Treasury and be used for national deficit reduction purposes.
It would be quite a hit to these schools.
I completely missed that Republicans introduced a bill to increase the endowment tax from 1.4% to 21%. If passed, Harvard would go from paying ~$35m to $525m/yr in federal taxes (that’s 8.2% of its current operating expenses) pic.twitter.com/lApx7MstJ6
— Matt Blackwell (@matt_blackwell) February 26, 2025
That's the corporate tax rate, by the way.
Note that this tax only applies to schools with endowments higher than $500k per student. The usual suspects (ivies) are on the list but also some small schools pic.twitter.com/gAOewUKMzz
— Matt Blackwell (@matt_blackwell) February 26, 2025
Princeton, Yale, Baylor, Bowdoin, Notre Dame, Wellesley, Johns Hopkins, Cornell - the list goes on. You might be surprised by who made the cut.
And, of course, HAH-vahd.
As the GOP moves toward reconciliation, there has been some compromise on the tax percentage number but not on the tax itself, and that's pretty hilarious, too, because they expanded the scope to make up for the decrease.
They cut it to 14% in reconciliation but made it apply more broadly.
— Varad Mehta (@varadmehta) February 26, 2025
Now, some people are applauding the move and pointing out that even progressive states have begun moving against these privileged educational behemoths.
Imposing higher tax on university endowments, sponsored by Republicans, mirrors the property tax bill from NY Dem progressives. Glad the parties agree on making these institutions pay their fair share. https://t.co/YuvIfqjOEP https://t.co/3cWUHEU8qo pic.twitter.com/IXRb5aHtbk
— Yiatin Chu (@ycinnewyork) February 26, 2025
But you can bet there's some cold sweat running down collegiate spines as they frantically direct their alumni associations to get hot on emailing and calling campaigns to thwart this.
The right tried playing nice for over fifty years and got nowhere. It only gets uglier from here. https://t.co/UuTO9G6LlS
— Avi Woolf, Wilderness Conservative🐺 (@AviWoolf) February 26, 2025
That Republicans are already rumored to have pushed it into the reconciliation process?
All I can say is well done, guys.
Beege UPDATES: Well, smokes - wonder why there are no tears being shed for these massive, basically tax-free endowments?
Let's check in on Barnard right now, shall we?
GOSH
That looks fun. What nice kids.
I'm supposed to be in class right now. My classroom is located directly above @BarnardCollege's main administrative office. My professor and several of my classmates were ordered by public safety to stand outside.
— Shoshana Aufzien🎗️ (@shoshanaaufzien) February 26, 2025
Protestors PHYSICALLY ASSAULTED security. A guard just told me… https://t.co/uKcXxqNVVh pic.twitter.com/GOptqdoeCg
And the little terrorists have to debate whether they'll let the craven coward of a dean *checks notes* use the bathroom in her own building.
Watch as the students occupying a building at Barnard decide whether they will allow their Dean to use the bathroom.
— Steve McGuire (@sfmcguire79) February 27, 2025
This is beyond embarrassing for the Barnard administration. pic.twitter.com/jcxlki8ipO
As the infomercials I love always say:
BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE!
Ill-mannered terrorist children are also acting out at Columbia tonight!
BREAKING: Staff are fleeing after terror supporting students and faculty took over a building at Columbia.
— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) February 26, 2025
Columbia should immediately lose its accreditation and all federal funding. pic.twitter.com/29nBcHsRJr
Hey, GOP!
BREAKING: Students at faculty at Columbia University have violently taken over a building, while chanting “there is only solution, intifada revolution.”
— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) February 26, 2025
Columbia has completely lost control. Every single person should be arrested and expelled. pic.twitter.com/kyFScgmoGm
PASS THAT BILL
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