Republicans Advance Partisan Giveaway for Billionaires and Big Corporations

WASHINGTON – Today, Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee pushed through the fiscal year 2027 Financial Services and General Government funding bill on a party-line vote. The bill overwhelmingly benefits billionaires, big corporations, and the well-connected at the expense of the working class, the middle class, and vulnerable Americans. It makes communities less safe and enables individuals to commit fraud and sell dangerous products.

This bill:

• Promotes corruption by billionaires and large corporations by decimating IRS tax enforcement and drastically underfunding the Securities and Exchange Commission, the corporate watchdog that ensures markets are fair and protects investors from bad actors.
• Leaves consumers vulnerable to scams and predatory junk fees by underfunding the Federal Trade Commission, allowing corporations to continue price gouging. These changes increase the cost of living for working class, middle class, and vulnerable Americans.
• Enables individuals to sell dangerous products and puts children at risk by cutting resources for the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
• Makes our elections less secure by cutting the funding for the Election Assistance Commission.
• Includes approximately 50 new, problematic, or pointless policy riders that have failed to make it in the final bill multiple years in a row on topics such as the IRS Direct File, consumer safety, and abortion. Additionally, instead of addressing the issues that matter most to the American people, House Republicans are micromanaging the District of Columbia’s health and traffic laws.

“The FSGG bill is supposed to be the vehicle for funding federal agencies that power our government to operate in the best interests of the American people. With its draconian cuts to the IRS, the Election Assistance Commission, the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, and countless other critical services and programs, this bill falls extremely short. While Trump's tariffs, war with Iran, and misguided policies continue to raise the cost of living and threaten to leave hardworking Americans on their own, we can and should do better than this bill to make sure the American government works for those it is supposed to serve,” Financial Services Appropriations Subcommittee Ranking Member Steny Hoyer (D-MD-05) said.

Congressman Steny Hoyer’s full remarks are here. 

“House Republicans’ Financial Services funding bill is yet another giveaway for the very wealthiest Americans and large corporations, who have raked in record profits under the Trump administration while ordinary working families struggle to keep up with rising costs,” Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03) said. “This bill is meant to protect everyday American consumers, secure our elections, and make our economy work for hardworking people. Instead, more wealthy tax cheats will be able to get away with not paying what they owe, even while reaping the benefits of public services. The products that American consumers spend their hard-earned money on are more likely to be hazardous, broken, or harmful to their long-term health. More large corporations will be able to merge together, reduce competition, and drive up prices for the rest of us while supercharging profits for themselves. The Trump administration is a government of, by, and for the billionaires. The legislation Republicans passed today is a reflection of that fact.”

Congresswoman DeLauro’s full remarks are here.

During today’s markup, Democrats fought to:

• Restore Internal Revenue Service (IRS) enforcement funding to ensure billionaires, big corporations, and tax cheats pay taxes.
• Direct that all iron, steel, manufactured products, and construction materials used in any White House Complex project be produced in the United States.
• Eliminate House Republicans’ rider that would prevent Americans from having the option of filing their taxes for free.
• Prohibit the federal government from preventing state or local governments from implementing voting by mail, a tool President Trump used to vote in a recent Florida special election.
• Strike Republican attacks on women’s health, including access to abortion.
• Prohibit the use of federal funds to settle litigation or pay out a settlement to the President of the United States.
• Allow Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, also known as “Dreamers,” to work in the federal government.
• Create an Office of Inspector General of the Office of Management and Budget, similar to the legislative measure passed twice on a bipartisan basis by the House in the 117th Congress, including in the fiscal year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act.

House Republicans rejected these commonsense amendments and efforts to lower costs, protect children and families, and ensure billionaires and big corporations pay the taxes they owe.

Democrats have also insisted that agencies receiving taxpayer dollars appear before the Appropriations Committee to justify their budget request. That critical oversight work must continue, including fulfilling an agreement from earlier this year for Supreme Court justices to testify in a public hearing on the needs of the judiciary and court security.

A summary of the bill is here. A fact sheet is here. The text of the bill is here.

Watch the full committee markup here.

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