Johnson Warns Failure of ‘Big Beautiful’ Trump Bill Would Mean ‘Largest Tax Increase in History’ – for Every American

Republican Speaker of the House Rep. Mike Johnson on Sunday told NBC News host Kristen Welker that a failure of the so-called “big, beautiful bill” that President Donald Trump and his administration are pushing for would result in the “largest tax increase in history” for Americans of every economic level.

Johnson appeared on Sunday’s Meet the Press from MSNBC and talked with Welker about the Trump agenda in general, and the “big, beautiful bill” specifically at length.

Welker asked whether Trump will “own” the increases to the debt and deficit that the sources she chose to present claim will come about, and Johnson argued that the cited “experts” are only able to project that major increase to debt by vastly underestimating or ignoring altogether the predicted growth in the economy — the positive benefits that would offset potential debt — which he claimed will be substantial.

Likewise, when Welker went for a “gotcha” with a previous quote from Johnson positively citing a CBO estimate and asked whether he only believes the office when it suits him, he explained that the CBO is always wrong when it comes to projecting growth.

Toward the end of their debate, Welker made one more effort to cast the bill as harmful, saying her objection wasn’t a “Democratic talking point.”

“It is estimated that if the bill becomes law the top 10% of households would see an increase in resources, but the bottom 10% would see a decrease in resources,” Welker said.

Johnson began saying “no, that’s not” as Welker finished her question, asking not whether the claim was accurate, but instead asking, “Why are you comfortable with that” outcome that some claim it would have.

“No, that’s simply not – I’m not comfortable with that, it is not true,” Johnson answered. “Look at the actual facts of the tax cuts that we’re extending. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, again, from 2017, the people that benefited most from that were the lowest income Americans. It was households that made between $20,000, $30,000 a year annually. They had the biggest benefit from the TCJA.”

He then warned of the consequences should the “big, beautiful bill” fail and the previous cuts expire.

“What we’re doing right now is by making all those tax cuts permanent, we’re preventing the largest tax increase in U.S. history,” he said. “Kristen, if we don’t get this bill passed, every American is going to receive the largest tax increase in the history of our country at the end of this year when the TCJA expires.”

WELKER: And Mr. Speaker, just to be clear, I mean, this is not a Democratic talking point. I’m asking you about something that President Trump himself had floated the idea of. It is estimated that if the bill becomes law the top 10% of households would see an increase in resources, but the bottom 10% would see a decrease in resources.

JOHNSON: No, that’s not–

WELKER: Why are you comfortable with that?

JOHNSON: No, that’s simply not – I’m not comfortable with that, it is not true. Look at the actual facts of the tax cuts that we’re extending. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, again, from 2017, the people that benefited most from that were the lowest income Americans. It was households that made between $20,000, $30,000 a year annually. They had the biggest benefit from the TCJA. Also, the people that make $40,000 or less had their best tax benefits in over 40 years. Go back and look at the statistics. So, what we’re doing right now is by making all those tax cuts permanent, we’re preventing the largest tax increase in U.S. history. Kristen, if we don’t get this bill passed, every American is going to receive the largest tax increase in the history of our country at the end of this year when the TCJA expires. Don’t forget that. We have to extend it, and this is the vehicle to do it.

Watch the clip above via NBC News.