Daines Pushes for Big Beautiful Bill Passage, Warns of Chinese Agricultural Threats

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Steve Daines warned Tuesday that “failure is not an option” in passing the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill,” cautioning that Americans face a $4.5 trillion tax increase if Congress fails to act.

During a Fox Business interview, the Montana Republican emphasized the urgency of making key tax provisions permanent while also addressing national security concerns ranging from Ukraine’s military tactics to potential Chinese agricultural terrorism.

“Failure is not an option. We must pass this bill. We face a $4.5 trillion tax increase if we don’t,” Daines said. “But as Leader Thune just pointed out, this is about growth. It’s also about competitiveness and innovation.”

Daines highlighted specific provisions he’s advocating for in the legislation, including permanent capital expensing and research and development tax incentives. He said senators planned to meet with President Trump Tuesday afternoon to discuss these priorities.

“You’ve got to incentivize investment, make capital expensing permanent. You want to incentivize research and development, make R&D expensing permanent,” Daines said. “That’s key as we think about global competitiveness and beating China long-term to be investing in R&D.”

The senator also praised Ukraine’s recent drone warfare tactics against Russian targets, calling them a “game changer” in the conflict. He noted that Ukrainian drones costing between $500 and $5,000 each successfully destroyed $7 billion worth of Russian aircraft.

“It’s completely changed the dynamic of the situation because the Russians understand one thing and that’s force,” Daines said. “These drone attacks destroyed $7 billion worth of Russian aircraft. Now these are airplanes that are bombers. These are part of the nuclear lift, so we’ve knocked out approximately about a third of their bombers.”

Daines connected the Ukrainian success to President Trump’s defense strategy, specifically referencing what he called the “Golden Dome strategy” for protecting the American homeland with advanced technology.

Perhaps most alarming were Daines’ comments about a recently discovered threat to America’s food supply. He referenced an FBI investigation involving two Chinese nationals conducting research at the University of Michigan with what he described as a biological pathogen that could devastate U.S. crops.

“This is a chilling development. And I speak on behalf of so many Americans who would be worried about really contaminating our food supply,” Daines said. “This was a biological pathogen that the FBI discovered with these two Chinese nationals doing research at the University of Michigan.”

The senator explained that the fungal pathogen could directly affect and destroy wheat and barley crops, potentially devastating agricultural states like Montana. He suggested the incident might be part of a broader Chinese plot to undermine American food security.

“Can you imagine the Chinese with some kind of a plot to undermine the United States by going after our food supply?” Daines said. “So I think this has got everybody on heightened alert. Credit to the FBI for uncovering this plot and stopping this before it became much larger.”