‘Is This Really Realistic?’: Maria Bartiromo Challenges Rep. Byron Donalds on Trump’s Tax and Deportation Bill

Fox News host Maria Bartiromo questioned Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) on Sunday about his support for a massive bill that would cut taxes and fund President-elect Donald Trump’s controversial plans for mass deportations and tax cuts. Bartiromo raised concerns about the complexity of Trump’s proposed tax policies, noting that they would require significant legislative work and time to implement.

“The idea is to obviously keep the promises that President Trump made,” Bartiromo said during the interview. “But there’s all these new complexities now to the tax policy plans because Trump has said he wants no tax on tips, no tax on Social Security and all the rest.”

She added, “That takes time to write a new tax bill,” and pointed out that some senators had expressed opposition to raising or eliminating the debt ceiling, a key component of the proposed bill. “I’ve already spoken with a couple of senators who say there’s absolutely no way they are voting yes to eliminate or raise the debt ceiling. President Trump wants that in this major bill. I know you guys don’t usually like big bills.”

Bartiromo then asked, “Can this really, I mean, is this really realistic that you can get this done?” In response, Donalds suggested that many of Trump’s promises could be fulfilled within one large piece of legislation. “Most of it is actually going to be reauthorizing the Trump tax cuts, which, by the way, is the best tax policy our nation’s ever had,” he argued. “We already know what it is. So putting that into this vehicle is not going to be overly complex.”

However, Donalds acknowledged that certain elements of the proposal would require careful legislative work, particularly the elimination of taxes on tips, overtime, and Social Security. “Now, if you want to talk about the additives to that, no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no tax on Social Security, yes, you have to write that language,” he explained.

Regarding the debt ceiling, Donalds argued that it should be addressed in the same bill, as long as it includes necessary spending cuts. “I would prefer we do that deal with Donald Trump as Republicans have the necessary spending cuts associated with raising a debt ceiling, because we have to begin a fiscal responsibility on our watch,” he said. “The Democrats have lied to the American people, Maria, saying that you could just spend whatever and just raise taxes.”

He concluded by emphasizing the need for honest fiscal reforms and cuts, which he believes can be achieved through a debt ceiling increase.