Trump Threatens to Oust Republicans Who Want to Cut SALT and Medicaid

Trump finally took a fiscal stand. It’s with Democrats.

Trump Warns GOP Dissenters

The Wall Street Journal reports Trump Warns GOP Dissenters to Drop Objections on SALT, Medicaid

President visits Capitol Hill to urge passage of tax agenda, saying holdouts risk being ‘knocked out’ of party

In a closed-door meeting with the House Republican conference, the president urged fiscal conservatives to give up efforts to expand Medicaid cuts and moderates to drop their drive for further blue-state tax relief, pushing them to unite around his “one big beautiful” budget reconciliation bill, according to people familiar with his comments.

“Don’t f— around with Medicaid,” he said, according to attendees.

Heading into the meeting, the president warned of the consequences of failing to pass his bill, noting that taxes would rise for many American households should Congress fail to extend the tax provisions from his first term and that Republican holdouts could face primary challenges.

Trump said to reporters before the meeting, arguing the party is united—except for “one or two grandstanders.” He took aim at one of the House Republicans expected to vote against the bill, saying Rep. Thomas Massie (R., Ky.) should be “voted out of office.” [Mish Note: If it was only one or two, then the bill would sail. So Trump is a liar.]

Some members are pressing the idea of cutting back on the share the federal government contributes to Medicaid. Johnson has repeatedly taken that idea off the table, but spending hawks say it needs to be part of the mix, citing rising budget deficits and saying that the matching rate is unfair to states that declined to expand Medicaid to cover more low-income people, as permitted by the 2010 Affordable Care Act.

“It’s a deficit-spending bill. It actually grows the deficit this Congress,” said Rep. Warren Davidson (R., Ohio), a deficit hawk and Trump ally, who said ahead of the meeting that he was a “no” vote. Asked if Trump could say anything to get him to change his mind, Davidson said there has to be a “plan to actually cut spending.” [Mish Note: That’s correct. The bill Trump demands expands the deficit.]

Trump Shows True Colors

Instead of uniting Republicans to reduce the deficit, Trump says Rep. Thomas Massie (R., Ky.) should be “voted out of office.”

And look at Johnson who repeatedly took off the table the idea of cutting back on the share the federal government contributes to Medicaid.

DOGE Numbers Are a Scam

NextGov reports DOGE went looking for phone fraud at SSA — and found almost none

Also note DOGE Is Far Short of Its Goal, and Still Overstating Its Progress

Elon Musk now says his group will produce only 15 percent of the savings it promised. But even that estimate is inflated with errors and guesswork.

One of the group’s largest claims, in fact, involves canceling a contract that did not exist. Although the government says it had merely asked for proposals in that case, and had not settled on a vendor or a price, Mr. Musk’s group ignored that uncertainty and assigned itself a large and very specific amount of credit for canceling it.

The second-largest savings that the group lists on its site comes from a canceled I.R.S. contract that DOGE says saved $1.9 billion. But the contract it cites was actually canceled when Joseph R. Biden Jr. was president. The third-largest savings that the group claims comes from a canceled grant to a vaccine nonprofit. Mr. Musk’s group says that saved $1.75 billion. But the nonprofit said it had actually been paid in full, so the savings was $0.

Bogus DOGE

Q: How can we be certain DOGE is all hype and no reality?
A: If there was any substance to ongoing DOGE claims, they would appear in the budget.

Total it up and you perhaps have $20 billion or so in one-time items. That’s not nothing (assuming things that backfired did not eliminate that savings).

For discussion, please see How Much Money Has DOGE Really Saved, and Where Will it Go?

Let’s do some fact checks on DOGE claims and reality.

Bear in mind that Trump would not let DOGE go after Medicaid fraud.

Musk said he could find $2 trillion in waste. Then $1 trillion. Now he claims $150 billion of which $20 billion may be real, but one-time.

But that does not count costs of things like DOGE Makes Huge Mistake Firing Nuclear Workers, Now Seeks to Rehire Them

DOGE was never more than purposeful hype allowing Trump to pretend he was doing something with the deficit.

King Deal on Tariffs, the Budget, DOGE, and Deportations

• King Deal told Time he made 200 trade deals. He has made at most one.
• King Deal said he wanted to make a deal with Democrats on immigration. He did not even try.
• King Deal threatens to oust the few fiscal conservatives in Congress if they try to reduce the deficit.
• King Deal would not even let DOGE go after Medicaid fraud.

Trump has made a mess with tariffs, the budget, DOGE, and deportations.

For more on King Deal, please see Hoot of the Day: Trump Threatens a Return to Reciprocal Tariffs

We’ve gone from 200 deals “100%” to threats of returning to reciprocal tariffs if countries don’t deal.

Also see 90 Trade Deals in 90 Days, a Midpoint Update, Where Are We?

Finally, and most sickeningly, Trump Blasts Walmart on Price Hikes, Sounds Just Like Elizabeth Warren

Republicans should be seriously embarrassed by Trump.

King Deal is not interested in making deals.

He wants to command people and the markets to bow to his wishes, even to the point of sounding like Elizabeth Warren. How embarrassing.