Republican senators are seemingly unaware about what is actually in the massive bill that encompasses Donald Trump’s domestic policy agenda which is currently being debated in the upper chamber.
Several senators told NBC News that they have no idea how an excise tax for wind and solar projects ended up in the bill they are rushing to pass and get to Trump’s desk before his self-imposed July 4th deadline.
“It’s a secret, I guess,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said. “I don’t know where it came from.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) was also baffled by the provision, saying it “just came about” like it was “airdropped” into the bill before the vote to proceed on Saturday.
“It wasn’t part of any consideration,” she said. “It’s like, surprise! It’s Saturday night. And we looked at it like, where did this come from?”
Wyoming Sen Cynthia Lummis said even though she is fine with the provision, she has no idea who inserted it into the bill.
“You can add me to the group that doesn’t know the answer,” the senator told NBC.
Jason Grumet, the CEO of the American Clean Power Association slammed the new excise tax saying it “would increase taxes on domestic energy production.”
“In what can only be described as ‘midnight dumping,’ the Senate has proposed a punitive tax hike targeting the fastest-growing sectors of our energy industry,” he said in a statement. “It is astounding that the Senate would intentionally raise prices on consumers rather than encouraging economic growth and addressing the affordability crisis facing American households.”
Former Trump adviser and CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk, also criticized the legislation, calling it “utterly insane and destructive,” adding that it would “destroy millions of jobs in America.”
“It gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future,” he added.
