Republican lawmakers and aides have privately vented that the lack of clarity from Trump on tax specifics has added chaos to the debate. The only public guidance the White House has released is a vague one-page blueprint in April that steered clear of tough questions like whether a tax cut should be paid for and how.
“We’re absolutely committed to getting tax reform done this year,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.” “Our plan is to have a full-blown release of the plan in the beginning of September, with being able to vote and getting this passed before the end of the year,” he said.
Mnuchin cited hundreds of meetings on the tax plan so far with House and Senate leadership, business leaders, and others. White House spokeswoman Natalie Strom added that the private talks are yielding progress, but decisions won’t be “hashed out in the press.”
The House Ways and Means Committee intends to hold two tax-overhaul hearings this month -- though neither will involve marking up actual legislation. One will focus on benefits for small businesses, and another will explore benefits of simplifying the tax code for families and individuals, said the panel’s chairman, Representative Kevin Brady of Texas.
Unified Plan
Any more concrete discussions are taking place behind closed doors. Ryan and Brady, along with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch, have been meeting privately with top administration officials to try to agree on a path forward for tax legislation. Gary Cohn, Trump’s top economic adviser, has said officials intend to release a “unified” plan in early September.
By then, after a monthlong recess in August, Congress will have to pass a bill to keep the government funded, extend the Children’s Health-Care Program, and continue federal flood insurance -- all by Sept. 30. Calls to cancel the August recess and keep working in Washington are growing within the Republican rank and file, but there’s no indication that party leaders will comply.
By the middle of October, Congress will also have to raise the debt ceiling, according to a recent report by the Congressional Budget Office. Past debt-ceiling votes have stirred opposition among many Republicans -- a further division that may complicate the politics of a tax-overhaul vote.
Arthur Laffer, the supply-side economist and cheerleader for tax cuts, says he’s trying to remain optimistic. But as Congress returns to its messy health-care debate, he worries that the issue has diminished the prospects for a tax bill.
Lawmakers should have just swiftly repealed Obamacare earlier this year with a delayed enactment -- perhaps three or four years -- and then moved on to taxes, Laffer said.