Tennessee U.S. Representative Tim Burchett (R-TN-02) provided details of President Donald Trump’s meeting with congressional Republicans on Tuesday, explaining how the president remains steadfast in his efforts to unite members around the “one big, beautiful bill.”
Tuesday morning, Trump met with House Republican conference members about his “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which, among other agenda items, includes no taxes on tips or overtime, extends the 2017 Trump tax cuts, eliminates abuse of Medicaid, and funds the remaining construction of the border wall.
Burchett stepped out near the end of the meeting with the president to speak with The Tennessee Star’s CEO and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy, detailing what the president discussed with Republicans about the bill.
The Tennessee congressman said Trump was his “classic” self during the meeting and covered many topics in a lengthy, unscripted discussion which included his thoughts on a cap on state and local tax (SALT) deductions and Medicaid.
Burchett said Trump made clear he was against a higher cap on SALT and stood firm in protecting Medicaid for legitimate recipients like single moms and not fraudsters and ineligible individuals abusing the system.
“Trump was classic Trump. He was funny, he was comical, he was very topical about what was going on. He immediately talked about SALT…and said, no, we’re not gonna do it. That’s not happening. We’ll do legislation later, but let’s not do that. I applaud him for that because what will happen is you’re going to reward bad behavior,” Burchett said on The Michael Patrick Leahy Show.
“Trump said don’t touch Medicaid. Don’t touch it. He must have said that five times, and he’s right. Don’t touch it, but then he went back to say, but if you’re on their waste, abuse and fraud, kick them off. I thought that’s exactly what I wanted to hear, because he wants to kick off the people that are there illegally, he wants to kick off the criminals. But he wants to take care of the single moms, so I love that. I love that,” Burchett added.
With regard to the bill’s extension of the 2017 tax cuts, Burchett warned that if the tax cuts expire, Tennessee families and small businesses would face major tax increases.
“I’ll give you some facts: 798,270 Tennesseeans would see the household child tax credit cut in half, 94 percent of Tennessean taxpayers would see their guaranteed deductions slashed in half, and over almost 500,000 small businesses would be hit with a 43.4 percent tax rate,” he explained.
Further noting how allowing the tax cuts to expire would “stifle the economy,” Burchett stressed the need for Trump’s many executive orders and cuts made by the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to be codified into law by Congress.
“We need to enact these DOGE cuts and executive orders. If we don’t, we’re in trouble,” he said.
Burchett criticized Republican leadership for “waiting around” on big, comprehensive bills instead of taking action on individual pieces of legislation.
“We have to get back to work…We need to start moving ahead with all those DOGE cuts. That’s what America voted for,” he said.
Tune in now to the The Michael Patrick Leahy Show – your AMERICA FIRST news talk!
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
This entire SALT controversy is very distressing. I’m disturbed that any Republican in a mostly RED STATE like Tennessee, would not stand up & fight like he’ll against the slightest discussion of Tennessee Taxpayers subsidizing the stupid decisions of Blue States that made tge stupid decision to impose a State Income Tax on their hardworking citizens. I bet that no one can give an example of one good thing that ever came from a State Income Tax.
I remember how hard Tennesseans fought against it. So I get very angered when the idea of a Tennessee Taxpayer literally paying the taxes that NY & CA imposed on their people. This NO STATE INCOME TAX is why so many of those moving here are from Blue States.
I was happy to hear that President Trump is smart enough to see that SALT SUBSIDIES would be a death warrant for Republicans in the 2026 mid-term elections.
No SALT in the BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL