May 21, 2025: GOP Presses Ahead on Tax Bill, Bond Market Concern, More

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
News when you wanted with Bloomberg News. Now, I'm Doug Prisner.
The House Rules Committee has sent a revised GOP tax
bill to the House floor. It has a higher limit
on the deduction for state and local taxes. The new
cap of forty thousand dollars would begin this year and
phase down for taxpayers with annual incomes greater than five

(00:21):
hundred thousand dollars. This updated legislation would also speed up
elimination of Biden era clean energy tax breaks, and it
includes provisions such as accelerating new Medicaid work requirements. Earlier,
Speaker Mike Johnson insisted Republicans would march ahead. We will
decide whether the vote will be tonight, the passage of

(00:42):
the rule followed by final passage on the bill, or
tomorrow morning.

Speaker 2 (00:46):
And we're excited.

Speaker 1 (00:47):
I believe we are going to land this airplay. That
was House Speaker Mike Johnson. Also today, President Trump said
he is seriously considering taking mortgage giants Freddie Mack and
Fannie May public after more than a decade of being
under government oversight. Today, financial markets grappled with a ballooning
US federal budget deficit. It's been a major theme all week,

(01:08):
beginning with the Moody's downgrade late Friday of last week. Today,
the sale of sixteen billion dollars in US twenty year
government bonds saw lackluster demand. A five percent coupon rate
was awarded. That was the highest since the twenty year
was reintroduced back in twenty twenty. We got reaction from
Rebecca Wallser, the president at Wallser Wealth Management.

Speaker 3 (01:30):
So we started off expecting this week to be a
little bit turbulin in the equity space because of the
downgrade on Friday on moody to align with all of
the other rating agencies. But we expected that that was
going to create some turbulence. But now what we're seeing
is that global impact. If you look at the twenty
year sale yesterday in Japan, that went really poorly and

(01:51):
that was a big tell for Japan, and now today Wednesday,
we see similarly. And obviously twenty years is never the
same as the thirty or the ten, but it's still
it's out.

Speaker 1 (02:01):
That is Rebecca Wallser from Wallser Wealth Management, speaking on
the Bloomberg Daybreak Asia podcast. Bitcoin briefly hit an all
time high earlier today. This was tied to advancement of
legislation on stable coins in the US that seemed to
offer hope of regulatory clarity under President Trump. Speaking earlier
to Bloomberg, Galaxy Digital CEO Michael Novograts slammed the previous

(02:26):
administration for its approach to crypto.

Speaker 2 (02:28):
It was the change of the shift of approach from
the Gary Gensler SEC to this Trump administration, which has
justin braced our industry, and that freed up the animal
spirits both here and abroad. Right. I've had conversations with
heads of large sovereign wealth funds that said, if America's
buying biqud, we're buying bitquin and so you're seeing like

(02:51):
the snowball is rolling downhill.

Speaker 1 (02:54):
That is Michael Novograts, the CEO of Galaxy Digital. Incidentally,
Galaxy Digital is now trading on the Nasdaq after a
nearly four year process with the SEC that reportedly cost
it over twenty five million dollars now. Bitcoin climbed as
much as two point seven percent today to a record
one hundred nine thousand, eight hundred and fifty six before

(03:16):
pairing much of that gain. While broader financial markets were
in retreat, Bitcoin has risen so far this year by
about fourteen percent, outperforming other risk assets such as US stocks.
The Nasdaq one hundred is down around two percent since December.
The Department of Defense has formally accepted a luxury Boeing

(03:36):
seven forty seven jumbo jet from Kutar to temporarily serve
as the new Air Force one Now. This gift has
raised ethical and security concerns. Politicians from both sides of
the Isle are questioning President Trump's decision. Sarah Elfreth is
a Democratic congresswoman from Maryland.

Speaker 4 (03:55):
Opposes real national security risk to our president, to our country. Listen.
I'm traveling abroad this week for committee work, and the
security precautions that I am taking, just as a member
of Congress, just to be gone for nine days abroad,
are very serious. I don't envision a world, you know,
put the Monument's cause to the side, and Congress needing
to approve these gifts. I don't envision a world in
which that plane can be safe to carry our commander

(04:17):
in chief.

Speaker 1 (04:18):
That is Sarah Elfreth, Democratic congressman from Maryland, speaking on
Bloomberg's balance of power. The Indianapolis Colts have announced that
their owner, Jim Orsay, died peacefully in his sleep, or
say was sixty five. And that is news when you
want it with Bloomberg News Now, I'm Doug Chrisner, and
this is Bloomberg