He paid less in personal income taxes – just $750 some years, $0 in others – than most working Americans, all while living the lavish lifestyle of a billionaire.
But this story is very important beyond those headline details. Here’s why. 1/
It isn’t just that Trump pays a tiny tax burden and writes off dubious luxury expenses to live like a robber baron. His signature legislation with Republicans in Congress was making the tax code even friendlier to the ultra-rich.
Increasingly financially dependent on his brand, Donald Trump has grossly abused the power of his office to promote his personally-branded businesses and pour taxpayer funds into his own pockets. 5/
In need of money, Trump has rolled back regulations on corporations who bankrolled his campaign.
And he gave unprecedented direct influence over policy to people who paid him, including Mar-A-Lago members who got enormous influence over the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. 6/
As his properties and investments overseas lost money, Trump turned to foreign investors and governments for cash.
These unconstitutional emoluments are a huge problem. The President is supposed to put the country first, but Trump conducts foreign policy to benefit himself. 8/
Many of my constituents have to undergo long, arduous processes to obtain a security clearance for work.
With his debts, his foreign dealings, and the massive leverage others hold over him, Trump could not get a security clearance if he sought it as a private citizen. 9/
Trump responded to this reporting by whining that the IRS treats him badly, an absurd lie.
In fact, the IRS refused to comply with our @WaysMeansCmte subpoena and withheld his tax returns despite the clear language of the law that they “shall be furnished” upon our request. 11/
A few days ago the largest the Republican Study Committee, which counts 4 in 5 House Republicans as members, issued a new budget that seeks a massive transformation of American society. Their proposed changes are a blueprint for a dystopian hellscape. 1/ beyer.house.gov/news/documents…
What's in this Republican budget? It's here if you want to read it for yourself:
We took a closer look at the policy changes they proposed and legislation they endorsed, and documented what it means with citations, which follow below-- 2/hern.house.gov/uploadedfiles/…
It would wreck the American health care system for seniors, children, and everyone in between.
They'd turn Medicare into a voucher program, raise Medicare costs and drug costs, gut the ACA and its coverage guarantee for preexisting conditions, and slash Medicaid and CHIP. 3/
2) House Republicans advanced a new tax cut law, aka the "GOP Tax Scam 2.0."
The bill would cut taxes for corporations and the wealthy, and increase the deficit -- right after Republicans spent months threatening to wreck the economy to extract cuts.
3) Far right MAGA Republicans took control of the House floor, shutting down votes and refusing to end their blockade unless Speaker Kevin McCarthy broke his debt deal with President Biden: nytimes.com/2023/06/06/us/…
We just passed 100 days since the beginning of the 118th Congress, and things are not going well for the Republican majority in the House.
They've struggled to pass legislation, craft a budget, or agree on priorities. And now their leaders are openly fighting with each other.🧵
You remember how it started: the extreme right of the GOP conference denied Kevin McCarthy support in vote after vote, inflicting brutal humiliation on him and plunging the House into chaos not seen in over 150 years, since before the Civil War
When it finally ended on the 15th ballot, McCarthy was all smiles. But then it emerged that he had made secret deals with far right Republicans that effectively bargained away much of the power of his speakership, leaving him in a precarious position.
If true, the reported existence of a hidden financial relationship between a conservative donor and a Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court is inexcusable and unacceptable.
I have not previously called for Justice Thomas' resignation and do not do so lightly now. He has shown a clear pattern of disregarding ethics rules and hiding conflicts of interest, and is failing to meet the ethical standards to which our highest public officials should be held
Today the Supreme Court faces a crisis of public confidence, a crisis Justice Thomas helped create.
Faced with the choice to take the ethical high road by recusing himself from cases due to conflicts of interest, Thomas always fails to do the right thing.
I've been warning about this before last year's midterm, as the MAGA Republican faction in the House eyed a little-known procedural mechanism which they want use to interfere with law enforcement investigations of Trump:
As I wrote in the @BulwarkOnline, the narrow Speaker election gave the extreme MAGA faction huge leverage over McCarthy, which they hope to use in spending matters -- including by using the purse strings to interfere with criminal investigations of Trump
My mother was a military spouse, I know how hard life can be for partners of active-duty servicemembers, who often have to move their families long distances.
Our bill would update the tax code to overcome hurdles to employment that disproportionately affect military spouses.
It would show military families that their service to the nation is valued. This is the kind of bipartisan measure I believe can win passage in a divided Congress, and I will continue working with my colleagues in both parties to advance it in the current session.