Exclusive: Populist Proposal to Auction Distressed Government Assets to Raise over $1.1 Trillion for Trump’s Working-Class Agenda Gains Renewed Interest

A populist proposal to auction off distressed federal government assets, such as loans, to pay for infrastructure and other policy priorities for working-class Americans is gaining renewed interest ahead of former President Donald Trump’s return to the White House next week.

Back in Trump’s first term in office, a bipartisan group of congressmen—Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA) and then-Reps. Ted Budd (R-NC) and William Lacy Clay (D-MO)—introduced a plan called the Generating American Income and Infrastructure Act. The so-called GAIIN Act, for short, even won the support of then-President Trump according to an interview Kelly did with Breitbart News in 2018. But, as Trump’s bipartisan efforts stalled out when Democrats went after him later that year with bogus impeachment charges, the proposal similarly lost steam. Now that Trump is returning to the White House with a massive refreshed working-class coalition across racial demographics, though, the idea is getting fresh consideration from top members of Congress and power players in Washington. In addition, these members that were originally on board with the idea have moved up in a big way since 2018. Kelly is now the chairman of a powerful subcommittee on the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee. Budd is now in the U.S. Senate. And this idea is getting burgeoning support from top lawmakers beyond the original 2018 cosponsors.

What’s more, the refreshed and renewed consideration of this kind of proposal is being expanded beyond the original idea which was to just sell off distressed U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) loans and assets to now doing this across the entire federal government.

A budget analysis prepared by Andy Koenig, who worked in Trump’s White House in the first term, found that executing this revenue-raising procedure would bring in more than a trillion dollars for the federal government. In addition to the boost in revenue, the idea has precedent: Ronald Reagan in 1986 used this exact procedure to raise funds for the federal government under the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1986, per Koenig’s analysis which is currently circulating among top Republicans in Washington.

The analysis, obtained by Breitbart News exclusively, found that the federal government is owed $1.9 trillion in outstanding loans. There are also $87 billion worth of defaulted loan guarantees owed to the federal government. Koenig’s analysis identified at least 120 federal government lending programs and at least 15 different agencies that administer such loans.

“One way that policymakers could unwind the government’s massive lending operation is by requiring federal agencies to sell these outstanding loans to willing buyers in the private market. This policy would also provide up to $1 trillion in deficit relief that could be used to cut the deficit and fund White House and Congressional priorities,” Koenig writes in the analysis. “Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have the authority to dictate how these loans are administered and liquidated. For instance, Congress could require the government to sell loan obligations held by federal agencies in order to generate $100 billion of offsetting receipts each year. Those sales should prioritize distressed assets to remove them from government balance sheets first. Over the course of ten years, that policy would generate $1 trillion in savings without raising taxes. It would also have the peripheral benefit of reducing federal involvement in the lending market and focusing agencies on their core missions.”

Back when this was first introduced in 2018, the reason why it got bipartisan support from some of the hardest core Republicans and some of the hardest core Democrats—in addition to Clay it was also backed by Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-FL) and then-Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX)—was because the GAIIN Act would take the funds raised from selling distressed USDA assets and use them to fund infrastructure in the most working-class districts in the nation. It just so happens that per analyses pulled together by top DC power players that the places that need help the most in America are what Washington insiders would consider the fringier members’ congressional districts: Congressional Black and Hispanic Caucus districts on the Democrat side and House Freedom Caucus and Anti-Woke Caucus districts on the GOP side.

The author of that aforementioned district-by-district poverty analysis that Breitbart News previously exclusively reported on, GOP mega-lobbyist Sam Geduldig, has been for many years one of the biggest proponents of this broader effort to take power and funding away from the elitists and give it to the working class. He’s also led an effort to build bridges across partisan lines and founded a firm called United By Interest with top Democrat lobbyists in Washington to work across the aisle and across demographic lines to restore the balance of power back to the working class from the elites.

Geduldig told Breitbart News this renewed interest in the GAIIN Act revenue-raising model being the centerpiece of a possible big-picture bipartisan deal to fund populist priorities like infrastructure in working-class communities is a direct result of Trump’s gains with black and Hispanic voters in the 2024 presidential election.

“Trump’s 2024 electoral coalition was responsible for an incredible political realignment,” Geduldig said. “From East Palestine, Ohio, to the Bronx, New York, a working-class coalition of voters decided to send a seismic message to Washington, DC. The GAIIN Act is the legislative proposal that can most quickly reward those voters for trusting that Trump and Republican majorities will fix their very real economic concerns. I am proud to play a small role in shattering the conventional wisdom of Washington, DC’s consultant class.”

Beyond Geduldig, a number of top Republicans on Capitol Hill have expressed interest in the idea being at the forefront of the Trump agenda.

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer told Breitbart News he would consider this and all ideas to raise revenue to fund the Trump working class agenda. “Americans elected a Republican trifecta with a mandate to rein in Washington’s reckless spending, tackle our mounting debt, and get our economy back on track,” Emmer said when asked about the idea. “House Republicans can and must look at all innovative solutions to ensure we deliver.”

Newly-elected Sen. Jim Banks (R-IN) told Breitbart News too that he’s excited about the idea. Banks had served for several terms in the House before his election to the Senate in November, and in the lower chamber he led the aforementioned Anti-Woke Caucus. Now, he’s taking these ideas on offense into the upper chamber of Congress.

“America needs innovative approaches to spur development in working class communities that will create jobs and not run up the deficit,” Banks said. “Selling off distressed debt that federal agencies have been sitting on can be a great way to do that. I look forward to working on this proposal.”

One of Geduldig’s partners at his lobbying firm CGCN, Ja’Ron Smith, ran “Opportunity Zones” policy for Trump in the White House in his first term. Now, he is taking on an expanded role with an outside group linked with Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC)—the chief Senate backer of Opportunity Zones—in which Smith aims to link Opportunity Zones to this effort.

Scott, the Senator from South Carolina and the new National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) chairman, told Breitbart News too that he is excited to explore ways like this to expand the success of Opportunity Zones from Trump’s first term moving forward.

“My Opportunity Zones initiative was a major achievement that laid the groundwork for revitalizing distressed communities,” Scott said. “By incentivizing private investment, OZs have spurred $84.7 billion and counting in economic growth and job creation where it’s needed most. I look forward to exploring ways we can keep building upon the success of Opportunity Zones, and ensure the Americans most in need of economic opportunity continue to benefit from these initiatives.”

The 2025 effort is likely to get bipartisan support again too, just like the 2018 effort, but perhaps even more expansive this time. While Wilson is the only original Democrat co-sponsor from the 2018 GAIIN Act who’s returned to Congress this year, Mike Williams—a Democrat lobbyist with the firm the Williams Group who cofounded the United By Interest initiative with Geduldig—told Breitbart News he is working to make sure Democrats support this push too.

“The GAIIN Act has the potential to bring long sought relief to traditionally underserved communities across the country,” Williams said. “These communities are not divided by political affiliation but instead are connected by need. Having worked on this measure has been a privilege for someone from one of these underserved communities. I look forward to working with both parties to ensure it is enacted.”