House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy sounded newly amenable to cutting payroll taxes, an idea promoted by President Trump but which many Republicans have hesitated to support.
“That would help,” McCarthy said of the idea during an interview Monday on Fox News. “That would keep more money in individuals’ pockets. It would help businesses.”
Asked about a payroll tax cut earlier this month, McCarthy, a Republican from California, suggested there should first be a review of the effects of earlier efforts to provide relief to the economy. “Before we take up any new bill, let’s have hearings,” he said. “Let’s have the information and data come back to us and see if there’s a need. As states open up, there will be a difference of what’s needed today than is needed tomorrow.”
Trump has pushed for a reduction in payroll taxes since the first relief package, growing more adamant as several packages have been passed.
“We’re not doing anything without a payroll tax cut,” Trump said this month at a Fox News virtual town hall. “A very strong one because that’s going to really put people to work.”
A source with knowledge of the discussions told the Washington Examiner that while Trump’s payroll tax cut was not yet part of a deal with lawmakers, “it could sneak its way in there.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, has dismissed the idea.
“I’m going to give it due consideration if I can see a strong group of people who think it’s the right thing to do,” Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee Chuck Grassley said after Trump’s statement.
South Dakota Sen. John Thune, majority whip and a top deputy to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, said in May that he is “not a particular fan” of payroll tax cuts. “The payroll tax cut only helps if you’re on the payroll,” he said.
Another member of McConnell’s leadership team, Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt, said earlier this month that he did not view a payroll tax cut as the best option, a departure from his remarks as Congress discussed the first round of coronavirus relief legislation. “I don’t recall a time when a president’s proposed a payroll tax cut that it didn’t happen,” Blunt said in March. “It’s a pretty hard thing to stand in the way of if it’s designed as an economic relief issue.”
Democrats passed a $3 trillion relief bill on Friday, dubbed the HEROES Act, which will not be approved by the Senate. Trump has said he’s in “no rush” to sign off on further spending.
