Big, Beautiful Bill Nears Tense House Vote
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What is the significance of President Trump's tax bill?
What we've seen from a lot of employers in recent years is this feeling of, look, we can't find the talent we need out on the market. So we kind of have to grow our own.
It's Tuesday, May the 20th. I'm Azhar Sukri for The Wall Street Journal, filling in for Luke Vargas. Here is the AM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today. House Republicans are on course to vote midweek whether to pass President Trump's agenda of tax cuts and spending reductions. The party remains deeply divided over key issues such as state and local taxes and Medicaid. To give his so-called big, beautiful bill a push, people familiar with the matter say Trump is planning to speak to the broader House Republicans' conference on Tuesday morning on Capitol Hill. Congressional reporter Olivia Beavers says the bill is a key priority for Trump, with GOP members even calling it legacy-defining.
Why is the House divided over the tax bill?
This bill is extremely important for Republicans to get passed. It includes President Trump's top priorities from the border, from his promises about energy to even taxes, no tax on tips, extending his tax cuts from his first administration. And so this is all wrapped up in one big, beautiful bill. They tried to put it all into one bill with the hopes that it would be more successful in terms of pulling a very kind of disparate wing party together to get this through.
The newly accelerated timeline for the bill means the House Rules Committee is planning to meet shortly after midnight tonight to try to send the package to the House floor for a vote on Wednesday. Last night, House Speaker Mike Johnson sounded optimistic about reaching an agreement.
I've seen lots of conjecture out there, but I wouldn't put much stock in that. I told all the members on a conference call this morning that this is a consensus-building operation. It's been a bottom-up process.
According to our reporting, there are still four GOP holdouts. Mike Johnson can only afford to lose three votes in order for the bill to pass. Construction on the massive Empire Wind energy project off the coast of New York is back on after an abrupt about-face by the Trump administration. The project, run by Norwegian energy group Equinor, was halted a month ago, sending a chill through the renewable energy industry. Here's our climate change reporter, Ed Ballard.
So it was always expected that the flow of new offshore wind projects would pretty much dry up with Trump in charge. But the sector was really rocked by the suspension of the Empire Wind project because it was already so far advanced. Approvals were granted last year and Equinor had invested $2.5 billion as of March. So folks were really worried that other already approved projects might be cancelled as well.
However, Ed says that worst-case scenario now seems less likely.
Clearly, this is a major relief for the offshore wind sector in the US. Just looking at this one project, the fact that Empire Wind is back on again will secure jobs for an estimated 1,500 people and provide enough power for half a million homes in New York just in its first phase.
What changes are happening with the Empire Wind project?
This will probably give other kinds of investors more confidence to invest in energy projects because the idea that the government could cancel projects that are already well into construction is a deterrent against committing capital.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is the significance of President Trump's tax bill?
0:52–1:54
2
Why is the House divided over the tax bill?
1:54–4:07
3
What changes are happening with the Empire Wind project?
4:07–10:35
4
How are companies addressing the skilled trades worker shortage?
10:35–10:40
5
What strategies are being used to attract high school students to trades?
10:40
6
What are the economic implications of Trump's trade policies?
7:19–13:28
Speakers
6 identifiedMore from WSJ What’s News
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