GOP Negotiators Preserve Benefits for America's Most Vulnerable Billionaires

Within hours of the announcement that a deal had been reached to raise the debt ceiling, Republican leaders issued a statement reassuring party members that no concessions had been made that would affect in any way the lives of the extremely wealthy or their heirs.

"This deal is a compromise, and with any compromise neither side gets everything they want," House Speaker Keven McCarthy remarked. "That being said, I am proud to say that we have succeeded in our objective of curbing federal spending while preserving benefits for billionaires and their trustees."

The deal, which will rescind over $30 billion in COVID relief funding and cap non-defense spending for the fiscal year 2024, will also not affect federal tax breaks and subsidies for corporations and certain financial workers.

"Let me emphasize that at no point in our negotiations was there any discussion of shrinking tax loopholes or entitlements for our most vulnerable corporate citizens, fast food companies and hedge fund managers," McCarthy said. "These considerations were strictly off the table."

Also included in the deal are expanded work requirements for able-bodied individuals receiving food stamps, though the vast majority of those to which the new mandates would apply already do work, making the savings minus the cost of enforcing the new mandates nearly negligible.

"To be clear, only those receiving food stamps and other forms of welfare would be impacted by these new requirements. Never would an heir or anyone living off the proceeds of a trust ever expect to have to work," said McCarthy.