Rep. Kevin Brady, the Republican responsible for writing tax legislation in the House, hinted Wednesday that the deductions for charitable giving and mortgage interest could be changed and possibly enlarged in the Republican tax reform proposal.

Those provisions are the two that were set aside and spared in the GOP tax reform framework. At the same time, though, both would be undercut by the Republican plan to double the standard deduction, because that move means less people would benefit from itemizing specific deductions, rendering the charitable giving and mortgage deductions inoperative for more people.