In a decisive rebuke of efforts to raise taxes on America’s highest earners, the U.S. Senate late Tuesday rejected a proposal to let President Trump’s 2017 tax cuts expire for those earning more than $25 million annually. The amendment, introduced by Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine, failed by a lopsided vote of 22 to 78, underscoring a bipartisan reluctance to touch Trump-era tax policy—even for the wealthiest sliver of taxpayers.
The proposal would have restored the top individual tax rate to its pre-2017 level of 39.6%, up from the current 37%, for ultra-high-income individuals and couples. The anticipated revenue was earmarked to double the size of a rural hospital fund from $25 billion to $50 billion. That fund, a provision in the broader GOP-led tax and immigration package, was designed to bolster financially strained medical facilities in underserved communities, many of which are the only providers for miles in vast rural regions.
Despite its limited scope—the tax hike would have impacted only a few thousand households nationwide—the amendment drew limited support, but the vote did raise eyebrows from those looking at political realignment. 18 Republicans and four Democrats backed the measure. Many Democrats withheld support not out of opposition to taxing the wealthy, but because they viewed the hospital fund expansion as inadequate relative to looming Medicaid shortfalls tied to the broader Republican budget framework, they claimed.
The vote highlighted the uneasy coalition holding together the GOP tax plan. Collins, a moderate Republican facing a tough reelection battle in 2026, has voiced skepticism over key parts of the bill and has not committed to supporting its final passage. Likewise, Alaska’s Senator Lisa Murkowski, another pivotal moderate, backed the amendment but remains undecided on the full package, reported The Daily Caller.
The failed amendment also spotlighted lingering ideological tensions within the Republican Party. While some Senate Republicans are willing to flirt with modest tax increases to address rural health infrastructure or ballooning deficits, outside conservative groups like the Club for Growth were quick to denounce the measure. They warned it mirrored policies long championed by Democrats such as Vice President Kamala Harris and accused Collins of introducing a “poison pill” that threatened to fracture GOP unity.
Adding to the confusion was President Trump’s ambivalence. Although the former president has hinted he might entertain limited tax hikes on the wealthiest Americans—so long as the funds directly benefit working-class families—he has also warned of the political risks. In a recent Truth Social post, Trump invoked the memory of George H.W. Bush’s broken “no new taxes” pledge, which many believe cost Bush re-election in 1992. Trump, however, blamed Ross Perot’s third-party candidacy for the loss—a reminder of how even modest tax tweaks can carry symbolic and electoral baggage.
Critics of the amendment also pointed out that its real-world impact might have been narrower than advertised. Much of the income earned by ultra-wealthy Americans comes not from salaries but from dividends and capital gains, which were untouched by the proposed rate hike. Without parallel changes to the investment income tax structure, opponents argued, the measure risked being more symbolic than substantive.
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American Liberals have got to be the most “deliberately stupid”. people in the word. They have been so massively indoctrinated by the usual suspect, the demonRAT communist party it is impossible to believe that any of them have ever attended even elementary school much less some type of higher education in Economics. Let’s get this straight. Even if the wealthiest Americans were taxed 100% on every cent they make it would not make a difference. As it is right now the wealthiest 10% of the American public pays 85% of all taxes levied. Why liberals can’t seem to understand this is just plain astonishing. But just because the liberal political leadership has for so long repeated the commie lies, it does not make it true. Every single demonRAT should be forced to take a Economics 101 course so they could see t he true facts. As Forrest Gump so profoundly stated “stupid is as stupid does”. By the way libs, class warfare has been a major tactic of the Left now for decades but human nature has still not been thwarted even a little bit. In fact conservatism has only expanded it’s grasp on society in the response to Socialism/Communism/Marxism.
All for the damn DC Swamp & rural HC suffers
No representation with lots of taxation. The Boston Tea party was over a 2% tea tax, and here after 120 years the America people still haven’t figured it out yet..