Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy Talks Trump's Tax Bill
06:48 Share

Pay later and all major cards so you can focus on scaling up.

When it's time to get growing, there's one platform for all business. PayPal Open. Grow today at paypalopen.com. Loans subject to approval in available locations.

Bloomberg Audio Studios. Podcasts, radio, news. You're hoping to avoid some ping pong between the House and the Senate. Joining us now, a man with experience of all of this, the former Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy. Speaker McCarthy, welcome back to the program, sir. It's good to get your thoughts. I want to lead with a question that Anne-Marie asked a little bit earlier on the program. When you're herding cats on Capitol Hill, is it easier or harder when the President of the United States is Donald Trump?

Oh, it's so much easier. President Trump is stronger today than he was at any time in his political career.

President Trump is stronger in the House. Remember, just to get this bill out of the House, they all said they weren't going to vote for it. President Trump came down to a conference, told both sides from SALT it's over, from the Freedom Caucus that's over. Everyone who said they wasn't going to vote for it voted for it in 24 hours. So this bill is going to get passed. The only thing that's holding up when this bill gets passed is the weather in D.C. and the attendance of how that people get here. Well, yeah, people now have to come back.

to Washington when they thought they were going to have this week off. Speaker McCarthy, so you think the Freedom Caucus will fold again? Will they fold by July 4th?

I believe so. I mean, think about this. Mike Lee, Rick Scott, Ron John all voted for this bill in the Senate, and they're not going to vote for it. So if they don't want to vote for it and they vote no, they're sitting with the Democrats and want to increase taxes. They have no place to be. What they want to do is get the attention they always crave, so they talk about that now. But how many times can you cry wolf and say you're not going to vote for something and in 24 hours vote for it?

They have done this numerous times. They want the president's attention. They say this so they can go down to the Oval Office and see the president and go back home and say they saw the president. So do you think the rule vote, which comes first, will pass? Because we can't see the bill on the floor until that goes through.

I believe, yes, it'll pass. It's all going to come down to attendance today. How many people could make it to D.C.? A lot of flights were canceled, so do they have to delay it a day or not? But this bill will pass. Remember, it already passed the House. It has now passed the Senate.

and you've got the July 4th deadline holding right behind you. There's a lot of pressure mounting here. President Trump has done a tremendous job on this, but he has become the speaker in the same timeframe. Every time he's leaned into a bill, it's been able to pass. - He's the closer, he's the speaker in chief. How concerned are basically just congressmen and women about being torched on Truth Social like Thomas Massie?

Well, you look at Tom Tillis. I mean, Tom Tillis, who had a lot inside this bill, was pushing people to put more inside the bill, turns around and decides not to run for reelection. I think that plays on the mind of a lot of individuals.

And people are now being able to look at the bill. At first, they're always arguing about what's wrong. They're not really looking at what's positive. You're not raising taxes. You're actually getting the economy moving again. You're keeping your promises. For those who are sitting in SALT districts, and you had a list up there of people who are leaning no. Nick Leilona, he said he's for this bill. That's a big movement for him because he actually improved SALT for his district. When it was 10,000, it's now 40,000. He can go back

home and champion what he was able to achieve while he was in Congress. That's a victory. But at the same time, though, there really won't be a cap. The cap expires at the end of the year. So don't you think the SALT caucus does have some leverage? No, no. It goes after five years. No. From the same standpoint, it wouldn't totally go away. Are people going to let these taxes all go

He'd been able to achieve something while keeping taxes low. If he wanted salt to go away, he'd raise taxes on all of his individuals and play that way. That's not why people elect him. They elect him there to go legislate, and that's exactly what he did. He improved the lives of his constituents, and he can champion that and actually be celebrated back home. Each of the constituents were trying to improve the life of their region.

From an overarching federal perspective, which is a federal law, do you think that this is a good bill? Yes, this is a very good bill. Because what would happen if you did not pass this bill, your taxes would go up,

The economy would spur a little down. I mean, this is exactly keeping the promise. And if you want to put it in perspective, this bill is exactly what President Trump campaigned on, so the American people voted for that. He won the popular vote, something a Republican president has not done in more than 30 years. He says, no tax on tips. It's keeping his promise. And this is the first thing people look at. And even if you didn't vote for him, you respect that.

You kept your promise, that's a change. You said you'd secure the border, you secured the border. With all due respect to me. You said you would move it and make sure the tax was done? Yes, whatever respect you want to give me, I'll take. I'll give you loads of respect. There's a real question right now about the deficit increasing and the fact that there is a perception, and it was edified by the Congressional Budget Office, saying that essentially this would take money out of the pockets of the lowest income individuals in the United States, and it would add to that.

higher income individuals significantly in the form of tax cuts and other potential benefits. That isn't necessarily one of the agenda items that was promised on the campaign trail, correct?

Well, I'll do respect to you if you look back at the tax bill that we're keeping in place. What happened after it was placed? People actually got more income. Companies gave $1,000 checks to their employees. So the CBO can score it one way, but we know what reality is. We know what we're seeing right now as well, where the S&P 500 set a new record.

I think that lives much stronger to the American public than anything else. When they keep their promise, the economy is stronger, the border is secure, you're watching the Middle East go to a place we haven't seen in a long time, trying to end war in Ukraine. Yes, the world is a much better place because we elected President Trump. And yes, he is keeping his promise, and this aligns exactly with that, and America will be stronger for it. Speaker McCarthy, I'd love to talk to you about your relationship with both

President Trump and your friend, Elon Musk. Are you being called in to try to mediate this feud we see? I have not been called in, and I just know when two bulls fight, the only people who lose is the ground underneath it, and I don't want to be that turf.

One thing I do know is when those two work together, there's nothing we can't achieve. So in the same mindset, I think people need to take a deep breath. Let's get back to where we were before. Let's put America first and find the way that we make everybody stronger.

Speaker McCarthy, with respect and thanks. Thank you, sir. Appreciate your time. As always, thank you. Always. Take care. Thank you, buddy. Thank you very much. The former Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy there. I'm still in that line. Did you know using your browser in incognito mode doesn't actually protect your privacy? Take back your privacy with IPVanish VPN. Just one tap and all your data, passwords, communications, browsing history, and more will be instantly protected.

This is an iHeart Podcast.