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Taxes are likely to rise as lawmakers look to narrow the federal deficit, Warren Buffett said, as Washington prepares for major tax negotiations next year. The Berkshire Hathaway chair and CEO, speaking Saturday at the company's closely watched annual meeting in Omaha, sidestepped directly commenting on the partisan fight over corporate taxes taking shape. But he said his company will pay whatever the rate is, whether the current 21% or something higher. "With present fiscal policies, I think that something has to give," Buffett said. "Higher taxes are quite likely, and if the government wants to take a greater share of your income or mine or Berkshire's, they can do it. And they may decide that some day they don't want the fiscal deficit to be this large." Photographer: Dan Brouillette/Bloomberg An attendee holds a cardboard cutout of Warren Buffett, chairman and chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., inside the CHI Health Center during the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, Neb. on Saturday, May 4, 2024. Tax changes enacted under then-President Donald Trump in 2017 lowered the corporate rate to 21% from 35%, along with a series of other changes. Those included several tax cuts affecting individual filers that are poised to expire, teeing up talks next year on what changes to make — negotiations that could lead to a change in the corporate rate. President Joe Biden has called for raising the corporate rate to 28%. Read More BIDEN'S AGENDA CONGRESS' SCHEDULE A bill intended to keep kids safe ONLINE would do more harm than good and Congress should not include it in must-pass aviation legislation, technology and LGBTQ+ rights groups urged Senate leaders, Oma Seddiq reports. Photographer: Chris Dilts/Sipa/Bloomberg Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.) will be the top House Democrat on Homeland Security funding negotiations A new Democrat will take one of the MOST DIFFICULT JOBS on the Hill, helping lead talks to fund the Homeland Security Department, after Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) relinquishes the position, Jack Fitzpatrick reports. Also Read: Biden VETOED a measure that would have overturned the National Labor Relations Board's new standard lowering the bar for whether two companies are joint employers, sharing obligations to negotiate with unions as well as joint liability for labor violations. Read More Rep. VICTORIA SPARTZ — the first and only member of Congress born in Ukraine — has voted both for and against aid to her native country. She's also announced her retirement and filed for re-election. Photographer: Ahmad Salem/Bloomberg Palestinian children move a large water container through a temporary camp in Rafah, southern Gaza, on Friday. A HAMAS delegation has reportedly arrived in Cairo for new talks aimed at reaching a cease-fire in Gaza, where the war between the Iran-backed militant group and Israel is nearing the seven-month mark. Read More Russia's vast new $25 billion liquefied natural gas operation is sitting virtually idle, the first piece of Russia's energy production complex to be effectively curbed by US restrictions. Read More Israel's military has told civilians to move out of parts of Rafah, a possible prelude to a long-expected attack on the Gazan city. Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg Hope Hicks, former senior adviser to President Donald Trump, displayed on a screen during a hearing in 2022. HOPE HICKS, a former top aide to DONALD TRUMP, wept on the witness stand Friday after dramatic testimony about the 2016 campaign's panic over explosive stories detailing the former president's alleged extramarital affairs. Read More Commencement ceremonies were held at several US colleges over the weekend under the shadow of recent student protests against the Israel-Hamas war, even as other institutions grappled with how to navigate tensions ahead of their own events. The US Justice Department plans to decide by May 28 whether Boeing Co. violated a deal the company struck to dodge a criminal charge related to the crashes of two 737 Max airplanes, according to an email sent to attorneys for the victims' families. Lawmakers in several states are moving ahead with legislation to prohibit or limit noncompete agreements for certain doctors and other health-care professionals amid concerns that the FTC's attempt to ban noncompete clauses nationwide will be blocked. A new test embedded in Biden administration mental health parity rule proposals has stoked fears in the health-care industry that common techniques used to control costs for employee health plans could soon be eliminated. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said she still sees underlying price pressures receding even as a tight housing supply has helped stall the downward path of inflation. Investors waiting for an update of how Donald Trump's media startup is faring will have to wait a bit longer — months by some accounts — before getting a look at financial results. To contact the reporters on this story: Brandon Lee in Washington at blee@bgov.com; Jeannie Baumann in Washington at jbaumann@bloombergindustry.com To contact the editors responsible for this story: Kayla Sharpe at ksharpe@bloombergindustry.com; Giuseppe Macri at gmacri@bgov.com
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