President Donald Trump insisted Wednesday that his tax cut is all about helping the middle class even as Republican leaders formed a last-minute plan to cut the top rate paid by million-dollar earners.
The plan has ruffled some feathers in the GOP.
Two Republican senators have criticized tax cuts for the highest earners: Susan Collins of Maine and Marco Rubio of Florida. Together, their opposition could kill the bill -- though it’s by no means clear that either would withhold support over the latest plan for high-end rate relief. Still, as GOP leaders hustle to fashion compromise legislation for votes next week, Collins and Rubio may provide some drama.
Rubio has made no secret of his displeasure, decrying his party for prioritizing the wealthy over working families. Earlier this month, he’d sought to expand the child tax credit to benefit working families -- and pay for it by bumping the proposed corporate tax rate up less than 1 percentage point. His colleagues rejected the provision -- and Rubio eventually voted for the Senate tax bill without it.
This week, though, he tweeted: “20.94% Corp. rate to pay for tax cut for working family making $40k was anti-growth but 21% to cut tax for couples making $1 million is fine?” In a follow-up tweet, he shared an opinion article that decried his party’s decision as “A Slap in the Face to Families.”
Rubio’s office didn’t respond when asked how he’d vote on the bill.
Collins said in an interview with Bloomberg News in October that she doesn’t favor a rate cut at the top end of the income scale. “I do not believe the top rate should be lowered for individuals who are making more than $1 million a year,” she said. This week, she said she will wait to decide her vote until after a final bill is made public. That may happen as soon as Friday.
Trump’s Speech
GOP leaders are working on melding different bills that passed the House and the Senate in one final compromise package. This week, details of their provisions have begun leaking -- including a plan to cut the top individual income tax rate to 37 percent from 39.6 percent, a move that would benefit those with incomes above $470,000 a year.
GOP lawmakers confirmed that plan just before Trump made his closing argument for the tax plan by once again emphasizing its benefits for working class people. “This is for the people of middle income,” Trump said during a White House speech.