Democrats are hearing that President Trump is highly doubtful about working with Republicans on tax reform after he said Thursday he was interested in a bipartisan approach to one of the party's top priorities.
In virtual remarks Thursday before the Davos Economic Forum, Trump signaled that he would likely need Democratic votes to pass an extension of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
“When doing a Trump tax update [cuts]we have to get the Democrats to approve it. I don't see how they can survive with a tax increase of about 45% if the Democrats don't pass it,” Trump said.
Trump and Republicans face significant pressure to extend key provisions of the 2017 tax law, including cuts to individual income tax rates that expire at the end of the year.
Failure to update the law and fulfill key Trump campaign promises could cripple Republican efforts to cannibalize Democrats in the 2026 midterm elections.
“We were hoping we could accomplish something on our own, but we'll see. [Trump is] Usually quite accurate. It’s all math now,” Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.), a member of the Tax Ways and Means Committee, told The Hill.
Most Democrats cringe at the concept of any kind of participation in the GOP tax plan, but some key Democrats have shown openness amid Republican tax and minority tensions in the House. I am.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) told reporters Thursday that no formal line of negotiation on taxes has yet been opened between Democrats and Republicans.
Rep. Maxine Waters (Calif.), the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, told the Hill on Thursday that Democrats are competing with Republicans for tax cuts in light of the GOP's plan to cut federal safety net programs. He said he had no opportunity to cooperate for the purpose.
“None. Absolutely not. Listen, we cannot have an administration that is willing to cut, cut, and mutilate the most vulnerable people in our society. And then support them with tax cuts. Tell us to. Hell no,” she said.
Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) thought bipartisanship on taxes was also overblown.
“My first instinct was to laugh and say, 'Good luck with that,'” he said. “The blatant elimination of large-scale revenue in our current financial climate is certainly not something I support.”
Current efforts to change the Tax Law Center regarding extensions of many of these cuts that are set to expire at the end of this year, as written into the 2017 law.
Some Democrats suggested Trump's Thursday overture may have been a miscalculation.
“My sense is that this is going to be a similar mistake that made the tax bill very unpopular in 2017,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) told The Hill. “Democrats must continue to come together to stand up for working and middle class Americans.”
Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) said efforts to co-opt Democrats into the GOP tax agenda likely constituted “overreach.”
“They're asking for something that, I think, is very unpopular with the public. …I see them having a problem with all the Democrats. “That puts this at risk,” he said.
Lynch noted the requirements that Republicans' requirements for raising the debt ceiling would place on Democrats.
“I have a Republican colleague of mine who has never voted to raise or suspend the debt limit. I believe they are trying to package something that includes that. “This 'one big bill' idea – I don't think it's going to fly,” he said.
“We are pretty unified in our caucus that we can spike at least one big bill idea,” Lynch added.
Top Democratic tax writer Rep. Richard Neal of Massachusetts told The Hill that he expects Republicans to reach out and anticipate statements like the one made Thursday. .
“I've known it for weeks. He hasn't said it publicly, but all you have to look at is the arithmetic. It's our responsibility as the majority party, but we're not sure if they're going to take out the debt themselves.” There is no possibility of raising the cap.”
Neal said he's open to hearing what Republicans might have to say.
“Let’s hear what they have to say,” he said.
Republicans plan to use the budget reconciliation process to pass their legislative agenda without needing Democratic support. Reconciliation measures could pass the Senate with a simple majority, avoiding the prospect of a Democratic filibuster and the need to make concessions to the other side.
The question is whether Republicans want to move to a single reconciliation bill, as Trump supports, or split the tax money into separate legislation, a move supported by Senate leaders.
Stricter rules on reconciliation and the Republican wafer-thin majority have swirled questions about the ability to pull out two reconciliation bills in one year.
“I thought that's what they would use reconciliation for,” Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) told The Hill when asked about Trump's overtures to the Democratic Party.
“There are a lot of ideas for tax reform,” he said. “They're different from Jeff Bezos' ideas. They're very different from Elon Musk's ideas. Obviously there are some middle-class cuts that are in his original package, and we We've got to get the salt back. So Democrats have an idea.”
Rep. Sam Liccardo (D-Calif.), who represents parts of Silicon Valley, touted it as “deductibility of research and development spending, which is very important to the innovation economy.”
Kelly said disagreements over state and local tax caps are “one of the things” that presents problems for Republicans.
“It's not unrealistic that the president probably has to appeal to a wide audience that will benefit from this,” Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) told The Hill.
“We hope that we will reach out [Democrats]. How he plans to reach out and what we can do to help remains to be seen. ”
