“Come next February, everybody should check their check,” McCarthy said during an appearance on Fox’s “Sunday Morning Futures.” “Because their withholding is going to be better. They’re going to get more money in their paycheck starting out.”

One GOP tax writer said lawmakers are still trying to enhance middle-class benefits as they meld provisions from the different tax bills that passed the House and the Senate. That process goes public on Wednesday when a “conference committee” is set to meet.

Seeking More Relief

“We’ve got to figure out how to give more middle-income tax relief, and everybody’s working on that,’’ Representative Peter Roskam, an Illinois Republican who’s on the committee, said on Fox’s “Sunday Morning Futures.”

Both the House and Senate measures would cut most individuals’ income taxes -- though analysts have found that a disproportionate share of benefits would go to the highest earners. The bills propose different individual rate structures, and the Senate version -- designed to comply with stricter fiscal rules -- would make its changes for individuals temporary, wiping them off the books in 2026. Most of the House bill’s cuts are intended as permanent.

Lawmakers have to keep their tax bill within certain parameters: It can add no more than $1.5 trillion to the federal deficit over the next decade, and cannot increase the deficit outside that 10-year window. One way to enhance the middle-class tax cut would be by reducing the cut proposed for corporations. Both the House and Senate bills would slash that rate to 20 percent from 35 percent -- though Trump recently sought to give Congress political cover to set a rate as high as 22 percent.

Public expectations are low, according to a series of polls that have found little support for GOP tax legislation. Just 22 percent of Americans expect their taxes will go down if the Republican effort succeeds, while 41 percent believe they’ll go up, according to a CBS News poll released Thursday. Among Republicans surveyed, just 31 percent expect to see a tax cut under the plan.

Corporate Cut

Two senior Trump administration officials said recent polls aren’t capturing the public mood, arguing that people view specific components of the legislation more favorably than the legislation in general. Trump plans to deliver a closing argument for the tax overhaul on Wednesday.

Some Republicans say the corporate tax cut will benefit the middle class; Trump’s Council of Economic Advisers has said that the corporate tax cut would mean a long-term boost of $4,000 or more for average household income. Other economists question that nationwide average -- which leaves the actual benefit for middle-class families unclear -- and White House officials say it would be achieved only over time.