Congressional Republicans Fight Over Big Ugly Bill While Trump & Musk Go For Each Other’s Jugulars
- Howie Klein
- Jun 6
- 5 min read
What Comes When Disarray Gets Worse? Trump Led The GOP Into It
In the bickering over Trump’s big ugly bill, the Senate’s Republicans have different priorities than the House Republicans. For example, the tiny GOP majority in the House had to contend with Republicans whose top priority was lowering what middle class constituents pay because of the mess the GOP made over SALT (State and Local Tax) deductions. It allows taxpayers to deduct state and local income and property taxes paid to their states, cities and counties from their federal income taxes. It’s something that disproportionately benefits wealthy and upper-middle class taxpayers living in areas with comparatively high state and property taxes— New York, New Jersey, California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Illinois, Hawaii, Minnesota, Maryland and Oregon. There are no Republican senators from any of those states… although there are House Members for whom the SALT deduction is important, especially from New York, New Jersey and California. Among the Republicans who have indicated that their support for the big ugly bill will hinge—at least in part— on a good SALT deal are Mike Lawler (R-NY), Andrew Garbarino (R-NY), Young Kim (R-CA), Nick LaLota (R-NY), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), Tom Kean (R-NJ) and Elise Stefanik (R-NY). They’re able to get a decent deal out of the House GOP leaders, who didn’t want to give it until Trump told them to.
Now the Senate wants to blow that deal up and MAGA Mike is fighting to keep the $40,000 cap in the bill. Senators are generally unsympathetic, some aggressively so. Yesterday, Laura Weiss, Andrew Desiderio and Jake Sherman reported the SALT cap is one of the rifts between the House and the Senate threatening to sink the bill. “With the Senate Republican leadership under pressure from deficit hawks, there’s only so much the GOP can spend. And Republicans still need to settle whose priorities will win out. A White House meeting with Trump and his senior aides on Wednesday underscored the difficult path ahead, according to multiple sources in the room… Senate Republicans want to change significantly [the SALT deal]. We’re told Trump didn’t object when GOP senators reiterated their desire to water down the House’s $40,000 deduction cap.”
Senate Finance Committee Chair Mike Crapo’s (R-ID) noted that “There’s not a single [Republican] senator from New York or New Jersey or California and so there’s not a strong mood in the Senate Republican caucus right now to do $353 billion for states that basically the other states subsidize.”
Is that so? Idaho is a recipient state— receiving more in federal funds than it contributes in taxes. In 2022, Crapo’s state received around $1.50–$1.52 per $1 paid in federal taxes. Idaho’s lower tax base, driven by a smaller population and moderate-income households, contrasts with federal spending on programs like Medicaid, agriculture subsidies and infrastructure spending. And as far as the states that do have Republican senators who are eager to screw over New York and California… Mississippi receives $2.05 per $1 paid; Alabama receives $1.95 per $1 paid; Kentucky receives $1.90 per $1 paid; Alaska receives $1.85 per $1 paid; Montana receives $1.80 per $1 paid; and South Carolina receives $1.75 per $1 paid. Military installations and disaster relief funds boost federal spending. All red states subsidized by…
Minnesota which pays $6.88 in taxes for every $1 received.
New Jersey which pays $6.28 per $1 received.
Delaware which pays $6.09 per $1 received.
Illinois which pays $5.88 per $1 received.
California which pays ~$5.50 per $1 received
Massachusetts which pays ~$5.30 per $1 received
Washington which pays ~$5.20 per $1 received
Yep, blue states subsiding red states.
Weiss, Desiderio and Sherman wrote that “After the meeting, Thune said that while the SALT language will have to change, ‘we understand it’s about 51 and 218’— referring to the number of votes required for passage in both chambers with full attendance.”
So how does all this get impacted by the Trump-Musk war? Congressional Republicans are panicking about their constituents wondering why they’re voting for a “disgusting abomination.” Congressional leaders are coming off like deer caught in headlights. This is a lose-lose situation for all of them no matter which way they turn.
Bannon is calling for the GOP to raise taxes, and is once again calling for Musk to be deported— and it’s on the front page of the NY Times! “They should initiate a formal investigation of his immigration status, because I am of the strong belief that he is an illegal alien, and he should be deported from the country immediately.” Meanwhile, Musk is agreeing that Trump be impeached:
Trump claims, probably falsely, that Musk wants to talk with him but that he isn't ready to. Asked about that by ABC News, he responded, “You mean the man who has lost his mind?” Best commentary on the pissing match goes to Jimmy Kimmel last night. I almost forgot to mnetion that Musk was also on Twitter predicting a recession, one caused by Trump’s crazed and dysfunctional tariff insanity:
Meanwhile, earlier today, Dmitry Novikov, deputy chair of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, said Russia is prepared to offer Musk political asylum. And Musk was also threatening the American ability to work in space, something that he certainly shouldn’t have ever had the power to do and that if Trump had any balls would end immediately by nationalizing SpaceX... not just tweeting a hollow TACO-threat to bankrupt it.
And then there’s that whole thing about starting a third party, obviously primarily drawing from all those Republicans who have been taught to admire and believe whatever Musk says. Quite the poll, this:
In the middle of the national in-real-time meltdown yesterday, David Graham wrote that “From the moment Elon Musk bounded onstage, midriff bared, to campaign for Donald Trump, cynics predicted that the two men’s egos were too large to allow for a lasting alliance. Improbably, however, the bond persisted, despite the rocky rollout of the U.S. DOGE Service, disagreements over legislation, and even covers of the New Yorker and Time that seemed designed to troll Trump and drive a wedge between the men. Now it seems the cynics weren’t wrong— just premature in their predictions. A feud that simmered all week broke into outright hostility this afternoon, with Trump appearing to threaten to cancel all of the contracts and tax subsidies Musk’s companies have with the government, and Musk alleging that Trump hasn’t released files related to Jeffrey Epstein because he’s implicated in them. The falling-out feels both inevitable and still shocking. (The Germans must have a word for this situation; perhaps Trump could ask Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who visited the White House today.)… The situation puts Trump in an ironic position: He likes to be the guy on the outside, attacking government officials for failing to accomplish some impossible task. Now Musk is doing that to him, while Trump has to defend the imperfect process of legislation.”
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