'Breaks for billionaires' paid for 'on the backs of working families' targeted by critics

As the White House attempted to push the claim that U.S. President Donald Trump's tax agenda is aimed at reducing financial burdens for working families, a fair taxation advocacy group on Friday issued a reminder about the rich corporations and CEOs who have aligned themselves with the administration—funding Trump's election campaign and attending his inaugural events.

"Remind me, who was front and center at the inauguration? Oh right, billionaires," said the group, Unrig the Economy, in an ad that was launched in Nebraska on Friday, referring to the tech moguls who were seated steps away from the Republican president as he was sworn in.

The ad was one of two unveiled by Unrig the Economy on Friday, with the group targeting Reps. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) and Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.)—both of whom have pushed for the Republican tax plan to include lifting the $10,000 limit on the state and local tax deduction (SALT), a move that would benefit wealthy households.

Both Bacon and Lawler won highly competitive reelection campaigns last year, and the ads targeting them "call on constituents to demand that their elected leaders oppose tax breaks for billionaires that will be paid for on the backs of working families," said Kobie Christian, spokesperson for Unrig Our Economy.

"Many American families are already struggling with rising costs, and Trump's tariffs and Republican-backed cuts to necessary programs that everyday people rely on would just make things worse," said Christian. "Working-class people cannot afford to pay for these outrageous billionaire tax breaks supported by Rep. Lawler and Rep. Bacon."

The ad targeting Lawler warns that the swing-district congressman's proposals would "cut taxes for billionaires and make the middle class pay for it."

Along with lifting the cap for the SALT deduction, the priorities Trump laid out for Republican leaders in a meeting on Thursday included an elimination of taxes on tips, overtime pay, and Social Security benefits; an end to tax breaks for sports team owners; the closing of the "carried interest loophole," which benefits private equity and investment firm executives; and a renewal of expiring provisions on the GOP's 2017 tax cuts—whose benefits primarily went to corporations and the wealthy.

The carried interest tax deduction was also proposed in 2017, but was watered down in the final tax plan amid opposition from Wall Street—pushback that Republicans are likely to face again.

Chuck Marr, vice president of federal tax policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP)—which released a policy brief on the extension of the 2017 tax law this week—posted a chart on social media showing how tax cuts for the top 5% of earners would make up nearly half of the cost of extending the law.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday emphasized Trump's proposal to end taxes on tips as a provision in the plan that would help make it "the largest tax cut in history for middle-class, working Americans."

But at One Fair Wage, which advocates for an end to the subminimum wage for restaurant industry workers, co-founder and president Saru Jayaraman said the proposal mainly benefits people "making over $300,000" per year—not the working class.

"What we are going to need to see as working people across this country is elected officials, whether they're Democrats or Republicans, actually delivering for working people, not through empty promises or false solutions like 'no tax on tips,'" said Jayaraman.

According to CBPP's analysis, an extension of the 2017 tax cuts would reduce tax payments by about $61,000 per year for the top 1% of households—those who make $743,000 per year or more—and by about $400 for those in the bottom 60%, who make about $96,000 or less.

On "Fox & Friends" on Wednesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) admitted that extending the 2017 tax cuts for the wealthy would "blow a hole in the deficit" without offsetting the loss of revenue.

"But we're definitely going to get that extended, so we've got to find those savings," he said. "The tariffs are going to bring in revenue, we're going to have massive savings by making government more efficient and effective."

At Unrig the Economy, Christian said the House speaker had let slip an "outrageous admission" and confirmed "what we already knew."

"Congressional Republicans' top priority is enriching the wealthy on the backs of working families," said Christian. "Even as Americans continue to face higher prices nationwide, Republicans insist on further increasing costs for regular people by imposing tariffs on everyday items and cutting federal funding for essential programs such as healthcare and childcare to pay for billionaires' tax breaks. It goes to show that Speaker Johnson and Republicans are determined to keep putting the megarich first and the American people last."

Johnson's comments came as Trump's billionaire backer, tech mogul Elon Musk, was making his way through a takeover of federal agencies through the advisory body the president set up and appointed him to lead, the Department of Government Efficiency( DOGE).

The president is preparing to try to close down the Department of Education, and DOGE has seized control of a Treasury Department payment system that oversees the disbursement of Medicare and Social Security benefits, among other payments.

For American households making less than $96,000 per year, said Americans for Tax Fairness, the Republicans are "going to cut your healthcare, education, Social Security, housing, and more to pay for tax breaks for the rich and corporations."

"In return, you get about $1 a day," said the group. "What more could you ask?"