Accounting
Tax cut chances rise as House passes budget targeting safety net
Chances for early action on Donald Trump’s tax cut plans improved as House Republicans passed a budget blueprint Tuesday calling for deep cuts in safety-net programs such as Medicaid.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, aided by a flurry of last-minute phone calls Trump had with wavering Republicans, overcame resistance from fiscal conservatives worried about the impact on budget deficits and swing-district lawmakers concerned about reducing food assistance and health coverage for the poor and disabled.
The vote doesn’t guarantee an extension of the expiring 2017 Trump tax cuts. The Senate plans to make changes to the House blueprint before passing it and that could raise new objections among House Republicans.
The measure was in doubt for much of the day. Republicans, facing a quartet of holdouts, delayed, then initially canceled a planned vote on the measure, before reversing course minutes later to call lawmakers back for a vote. Three of the four Republicans who had opposed the budget plan earlier in the day ultimately voted yes.
The House budget would pave the way for $4.5 trillion in tax cuts — about enough to pay for extending the expiring cuts but not enough to also cover Trump’s campaign promises for additional tax relief. The measure would add to the budget deficit despite calling for $2 trillion in overall spending cuts over ten years.
The blueprint would raise the U.S. debt limit by $4 trillion, avoiding a potential payment default this summer.
Senate Republicans have said they will seek larger tax cuts and some Senate Republicans may object to the impact of the cuts on safety-net programs.
The House passed the budget plan 217 to 215. Only one Republican, Kentucky Representative Thomas Massie, voted against. All Democrats present opposed it.
The House budget calls for $2 trillion in cuts focused on safety-net programs like Medicaid, food stamps and education funding and calls for $300 billion in increased defense and border spending.
Nearly half of the spending cuts — $880 billion — would come from programs under the Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees Medicaid, Obamacare and other health programs.
The budget sets targets for spending reductions but does not specify the cuts. Republican leaders have supported Medicaid work requirements and cracking down on improper payments, but those moves would not generate the required savings, making swing-district Republicans nervous about cuts to benefits and payments to providers.
“It doesn’t even mention Medicaid in the bill,” Johnson said earlier Tuesday as he tried to get moderates in his caucus behind the budget.
The budget blueprint is the first step in a process that allows Republicans to bypass Senate Democrats on legislation related to taxes and spending. Without a budget, Republicans would have to win over at least some Democratic senators to pass those bills.
Resistance from fiscal hawks in the party gelled after tech mogul Elon Musk, who is leading Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, raised doubts about the budget blueprint in a post on X Monday night. Musk said the plan “sounds bad.”
Massie told reporters he had gone from leaning “no” to a firm “no” after leaders in a closed door meeting admitted that the plan would add to deficits in the first three years even with rosy economic assumptions.
Using conventional scoring methods, the budget would allow nearly $3 trillion in deficits over 10 years according to the independent watchdog the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
All Democrats opposed the budget, arguing it amounts to a tax cut for the wealthy paid for by slashing programs for the poor.
Top Budget Democrat Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania told reporters there’s no way to achieve the $880 billion cut in health-related spending without slashing Medicaid.
“The math is quite clear, there will be hundreds of billions of cuts to Medicaid — the largest in American history,” Boyle said.
Congress has until Dec. 31 to extend expiring individual and business tax cuts enacted in 2017.
The Governmental Accounting Standards Board today published a post-implementation review report on GASB Statement No. 72, Fair Value Measurement and Application.
The
The report concludes that Statement 72 resolved the underlying need for the statement, which involved valuation issues from a financial reporting perspective. It also concludes that the statement was operational and its application provides financial-report users with decision-useful information such as fair value measurements used in the analysis of governmental financial information and fair value-related disclosures.
Statement 72 is eligible to undergo more extensive PIR procedures, culminating in a final report.
CohnReznick, a Top 25 Firm based in New York, is the latest accounting firm to receive a private equity investment, in this case from funds advised by Apax Partners, a private equity investment advisory firm also based in New York.
This represents the first institutional investment in CohnReznick. The firm plans to use the extra funding to accelerate its growth strategy, deliver more client services and attract talent. Apax will support CohnReznick in expanding service lines, developing technology for client solutions, entering new markets, developing talent and advancing its existing tech platform to drive further innovation and efficiency. Apax also plans to support CohnReznick in pursuing a targeted acquisitions strategy to further grow its client base. CohnReznick was the result of a
CohnReznick has over 5,000 global employees and more than 350 partners in 29 offices across the U.S. It earned $1.12 billion in revenue in fiscal year 2025. It ranked No. 16 on Accounting Today‘s 2024 list of the Top 100 Firms. The firm has clients in a variety of industries, including real estate, financial services and financial sponsors, private client services, consumer, manufacturing, renewable energy and government advisory.
“Our partnership with Apax is a milestone moment in CohnReznick’s history,” said CohnReznick CEO David Kessler in a statement Wednesday. “We have consistently delivered strong growth and cemented our position in the mid-market, thanks to our best-in-class talent, industry expertise, and comprehensive service offerings. This strategic investment from the Apax Funds will help us continue on our growth trajectory, expanding our solutions and geographic presence to meet client needs while continuing to create exciting career growth for our people. We were impressed by the Apax team’s track record in the professional services sector and their experience in driving operational excellence in complex businesses like ours, while continuing to create a best-in-class experience for employees and clients.”
Once the transaction closes, CohnReznick will operate in an alternative practice structure, as has become common with private equity funding of accounting firms CohnReznick LLP, a licensed CPA firm, will be led by Kelly O’Callaghan as CEO and provide attest services. CohnReznick Advisory LLC (which will not be a licensed CPA firm) will provide tax, advisory and other non-attest services, and will be led by Kessler as CEO.
“Over the past two years, we have built a strong relationship with the CohnReznick team and have been deeply impressed by the company’s culture, vision, and the consistent growth they have achieved,” Ashish Karandikar, a partner at Apax Partners, said in a statement. “We are excited to partner with David and the firm’s leadership team to fuel the next phase of growth. Together, we aim to accelerate service line expansion, explore new geographic opportunities, and drive innovation. We look forward to what we are confident will be a highly successful and rewarding partnership.”
Apax was advised by Guggenheim Securities, LLC and CohnReznick was advised by William Blair & Company, LLC. Koltin Consulting Group served as an additional financial advisor to both Apax and CohnReznick.
“It was love at first sight,” Allan Koltin, CEO of Koltin Consulting Group, said in a statement. “I can’t recall two firms and their leaders culturally and strategically aligning as fast as they did. When one side talked, the other side finished the sentence. No question in my mind, this combination will produce one of the next $2 billion firms in the accounting profession, but more importantly produce a lot of successful people and clients along the way.”
T&E solutions provider
The release enhances receipt and invoice processing. The AI can read, interpret and act on transaction data, going beyond simple text extraction to leverage machine learning to understand context, predict missing or unclear information, and adapt to different formats for more precise data extraction. The solution automatically maps expenses to one of 39 categories (so far) for Emburse Expense Enterprise users to streamline expense allocation and provides richer insights. It auto-fills and interprets data for employees, automating routine tasks for users. The AI identifies the applicable currency, date format and tax rates, and even common regional merchants to support finance teams globally. Finally, it can proactively extract the additional tip amount data required for meal expenses to save employees time when submitting expense claims.
All AI data is encrypted in transit and secured and processed on localized servers.
“Finance teams handle hundreds of detailed processes every day, where even one seemingly-minor error can lead to significant financial and operational consequences,” said Paul Nagy, chief product officer at Emburse. “With Emburse AI, we’re giving users a powerful tool to minimize manual effort, improve accuracy, and dramatically reduce time spent on managing expenses and invoices. This latest milestone for Emburse sets the stage for future AI enhancements, including agentic AI, to help finance teams operate more efficiently and strategically.”
Emburse plans to further improve its AI. Future updates will include AI-powered, predictive insights and more.
Emburse
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