Don’t expect Democrats to support the GOP’s “Tax Reform 2.0” push.
The same day he unveiled a framework for the second wave of tax reform legislation, Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, opened up about his negotiations with Democrats on the first bill. Speaking on an episode of Rep. Sean Duffy’s, R-Wis., podcast that was taped Monday, Brady said, “We spent a year just sitting down and just asking, ‘What are your priorities?'”
“It’s fascinating, Sean,” he continued, “their priorities were, ‘We want families to keep more of what they earn, we want small business tax cuts, and we want to see our jobs come back from overseas. Exactly what we delivered in the new Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.”
“But I think they decided that they’d walk away from all the things they’ve sort of been promising back home. I think — I don’t know if it was Republican[s] or it was the president — but they just couldn’t bring themselves to help those local families and businesses, and I just think it’s terrible,” Brady said.
The Texas Republican further asserted that “several” Democrats who wanted to support the bill caved under pressure from their party to vote against it. “There were several who really wanted to be there,” said Brady, adding they faced “incredible” pressure “to not give an inch.”
“So, it was more about the politics than the policy that you put together,” Duffy concluded.
That, of course, doesn’t bode well for Brady’s latest tax reform push, though the chairman has expressed hope Democrats will come to the table. The legislation President Trump signed into law last year passed without any support from Democrats in the House or Senate. And the “incredible” pressure Brady described hasn’t ebbed at all.
The new reform package, in which Brady hopes to extend the last round of cuts and implement new retirement and savings account incentives, is on track to be debated this fall, smack dab in the heat of midterm season. Whether that makes it more or less likely the GOP will be able to pick up some Democratic votes is unclear, but given Brady’s account of the negotiations last year, the outlook for bipartisan cooperation seems bleak.
