Benjamin Franklin famously observed that “in this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Republican politicians’ opposition to raising the latter, and seeking to cut them whenever possible, may now come in a close third. “God put the Republican Party on Earth to cut taxes,” veteran conservative columnist Robert Novak once said. “If they don’t do that, they have no useful function.”

The GOP’s antipathy to tax hikes has survived a wave of populism in the party that has put free trade, balanced budgets, and Paul Ryan-style entitlement reform on the chopping block. “Woke capitalism” and anti-conservative trends in technology companies have caused some Republicans to question bigness in business as well as government. The conservative smart set speaks in disparaging tones about the party remaining in the grips of “free market orthodoxy.” Yet the line on taxes has held.