Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
Republicans’ extended, circular debate over how to execute Donald Trump’s agenda in Congress is obscuring a much larger problem: They’re nowhere near agreement on what would go in a tax bill.
The House and Senate GOP are still haggling over the size and the scope of their plan, with a long list of details to work out and decisions still to settle. And the more the two chambers tangle over how fast to move, the less time they spend on those even tougher policymaking choices.
House Speaker Mike Johnson has suggested the party’s entire tax plan could pass by April. But many other Republicans estimate it will take months to get a final bill to Trump’s desk — possibly running up against the year-end deadline to prevent the expiration of his first-term tax cuts.
Plenty of those Republicans are comfortable taking their time on taxes, too, arguing that they have a unique opportunity to reorient US economic policy and that rushing it makes no sense.
“The process of negotiating the details will take many months. It’s just incredibly complicated, and there are trade-offs. And obviously, you’ve got differing views in the Senate and the House,” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told Semafor. “It will be a long, extended process.”
The unresolved tax fights are all politically sensitive: How much of Trump’s campaign promises to slash taxes on tips and Social Security benefits can be included? How much of the new tax cuts should be paid for with spending cuts? Should Republicans tinker with the corporate tax rate? Will red-state Republicans accommodate a bigger state and local deduction for blue-state Republicans?
It’s a workload huge enough to make unity between House and Senate Republicans especially critical. For now, however, they have chosen an imperfect solution: Working separately on two different plans and seeing which proves more viable in the coming weeks.
The idea seems to be a battle over which chamber of Congress can get its act together more quickly.
“I suggested the horse race idea … I thought that might appeal to President Trump. He likes competition,” said Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D. “Have we come together on tax? No, there’s a lot of work to do.”
