Trump push attacked by Democrats
WASHINGTON» When President Donald Trump announced that he was unilaterally deferring payroll taxes to bring economic relief to struggling Americans, he and his aides thought it would allow them to frame him as pro-worker.
But the move comes with political risks. Eliminating the payroll tax could jeopardize the funding stream for Social Security, which is one of the government’s most popular programs, providing benefits to 64 million people.
The president has given Democrats an opening to raise Social Security cuts as an issue in the final months of an election in which his support among older voters already appears to be shaky.
On Monday, former Vice President Joe Biden capitalized on the opportunity. “Donald Trump said that if he’s re-elected, he’ll defund Social Security,” he tweeted. “We can’t let that happen.”
The Democratic National Committee amplified the line of attack the next day, blasting out a statement that highlighted “At Least 7 Times Trump Said He Will Permanently Eliminate Funds To Social
Security And Medicare.”
Beyond the complicated legal questions about whether Trump can circumvent Congress by using executive actions to create his own tax-andspend policies, and the economic debate about whether a payroll tax even helps the right people (it does nothing for the unemployed), the proposal leaves Trump juggling political priorities.
He is now balancing the potential benefits of giving working people more money in their paychecks — at least temporarily — versus undercutting his 2016 campaign pledge that he would protect entitlement programs.
His economic advisers have insisted that the temporary tax deferral, which Trump announced on Saturday, will have no effect on Social Security or Medicare.
“The president in no way wants to harm those trust funds,” Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, said Sunday. “There would be no reduction to those benefits.”
Trump campaign advisers are saying that the president wants to go further and pass a permanent payroll tax cut if he is reelected. The administration has not explained how Social Security would be funded if a tax dedicated to it evaporates.