Trump rallies GOP support for tax-cut bill
President says he hopes measure hits his desk by Thanksgiving
WASHINGTON >> President Trump on Sunday afternoon joined a conference call of House Republicans to rally support for a Senate-passed budget bill that clears the way to enact tax cuts later this year without Democratic support.
“We are on the verge of doing something very, very historic,” Trump told GOP lawmakers, according to a Republican familiar with the call.
During the call, Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., argued that passing the revised Senate budget this week provides the best shot to get a tax bill enacted by the end of the year, according to participants.
Republican leaders argued that is the better alternative at this point to negotiating with the Senate to resolve differences with the House’s fiscal blueprint.
Earlier Sunday, Trump raised
expectations about the timetable, indicating he expects the as-yet unwritten overhaul of the tax code on his desk by Thanksgiving.
“I want to get it by the end of the year but I’d be very disappointed if it took that long,” he said on Fox’s “Sunday Morning Futures With Maria Bartiromo.” He said lawmakers should forgo their Thanksgiving break if they can’t send him a measure by then.
Accepting the Senate bill “may save as many as 10 or 12 legislative days,” Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management Budget, said during an appearance on “Fox News Sunday.” He called that prospect a “big deal” as the party seeks to coalesce around a tax plan by year end.
Passage would be a marquee accomplishment for Republicans in a period where they have struggled to achieve major legislative accomplishments, despite controlling the White House and both chambers of Congress.
Republican leaders have painted an optimistic picture of the overhaul’s chances, saying they hope to have it done by the end of the year. But many have predicted a vote could roll over into 2018, particularly with Trump’s abrupt addition of several issues to their agenda.
That includes a legislative fix for the legal status of immigrants brought to the country illegally as children, reaching a bipartisan agreement to stabilize health insurance markets after Trump halted subsidies to insurance companies to offset co-payments and deductibles for low-income people, and responding to Trump’s refusal to recertify the Iran nuclear deal.
The tax plan Republican leaders and the White House have laid out calls for reducing tax rates on corporations from 35% to 20%, and consolidating individual tax rates to 12%, 25%, 35% and possibly one higher bracket for the wealthy. Income brackets for those rates have yet to be set.
Actual text of a tax overhaul bill hasn’t been written yet, much less become public. Members of Congress haven’t reached consensus on what cuts to make, or where to make them. Trump signaled that tweaks are still being made.
“There’s tremendous spirit for it, not only by the people we’re dealing with in Congress, but for the people out there that want to see something,” Trump said. “We’re adjusting so that there’s no way that the middle class doesn’t greatly benefit.”
The president confirmed that Republicans are considering adding a tax bracket for the rich to their plan, saying it would provide a bigger benefit for the middle class.
House Speaker Paul D. Ryan indicated Friday the extra bracket was Trump’s idea. Trump seemed less willing to accept credit, but acknowledged that the idea was in response to his request for more help for the middle class. “I would rather do that than do anything to hurt the middle class,” Trump said.
On “Fox News Sunday,” White House budget director Mick Mulvaney downplayed adding the bracket and said it was an idea that originated in Congress to help ease passage.
“What we’ve just said at the White House is, ‘Look, we are agnostic about that. It’s not a big piece for us .... It’s not what’s driving this for the White House,’” he said.
Still unclear is how Republican leaders will convince rank-and-file members who came to Congress pledging to reduce the size of the deficit to vote for a tax cut plan that will increase the deficit by $1.5 trillion over 10 years.
The beginnings of their talking points were clear Sunday, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., saying on CNN’s “State of the Union” that the tax package will create so much economic growth it will begin to pay down the nation’s debt. There’s little historical evidence that tax cuts pay off in long-term economic growth.
“This is a tax reform bill designed to make America grow more,” McConnell said.
After failing to get an overhaul of the Affordable Care Act through both chambers, Republicans need a legislative victory this year. Trump said that failure on health care will spur his party to get tax reform accomplished.
“I will say the fact that health care is so difficult, I think, makes the taxes easier. The Republicans want to get it done,” he said.
Trump predicted Republicans will have the votes they need on taxes, saying libertarian-leaning Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., will vote for it. Some in the White House have indicated they were worried Paul would take a hard-line stance against the GOP plan because it would increase the deficit. But the senator tweeted Friday that he’s “all in.”
“I think that Rand Paul actually is going to vote for the tax cuts…. We had tremendous enthusiasm this time. Health care, I was told was tougher but it was close. I mean, so far, I would say it’s not even a contest,” Trump said.
Trump has distracted from legislative issues repeatedly in the first 10 months of his administration, most recently bickering online with Republican senators including Bob Corker. But Trump dismissed the idea that he’s getting in his own way.
“Sometimes it helps, to be honest with you,” Trump said. “Actually sometimes it helps. Sometimes it gets people to do what they’re supposed to be doing.”