Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) proposed expanding tax deductions and credits for all Americans who pay payroll taxes, saving taxpayers thousands of dollars per year as part of a GOP-led budget bill aligning with President Donald Trump’s agenda.

The populist senator suggested that Republicans should include measures making available “the largest income tax credits,” including the home mortgage deduction, the child tax credit, and the charitable deduction to every American who pays the payroll tax.

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“Republicans should fix this now,” Hawley wrote. “Make the home mortgage interest deduction, the child tax credit and the charitable deduction available against the payroll tax.” 

Hawley noted in an op-ed for the Washington Post that working-class Americans are excluded from income tax breaks since they don’t make enough money to be taxed on their income; however, they pay a significant portion in payroll taxes. Two-thirds of Americans pay more in payroll taxes than in income taxes, he mentioned.

Hawley’s call for expanded tax credits comes after House Republicans passed a budget resolution that would include $1.5 billion in tax cuts. Trump seeks to extend the tax cuts created through the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. 

“The negotiations over President Donald Trump’s ‘big, beautiful’ budget bill have to date included surprisingly little talk of tax cuts for the people who need them most: America’s working class,” Hawley wrote.

Hawley has made providing working-class Americans tax relief a top priority. He’s introduced several pieces of legislation that would increase the value for child tax credits, prohibit taxes on overtime hours and create a cap on credit card interest rates. 

Trump is seeking to alleviate the tax burden on working-class Americans by proposing that there be no taxation on tipped income and Social Security benefits. These proposals would cost an estimated $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion in tax revenue over the next ten years. 

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Hawley told the New York Times that he would be in favor of creating high tax rates for wealthy Americans to ensure the working class can receive a break.

“I think we need to cut taxes for working folks, so if the president wants to offset that, then I’m definitely open to it,” Hawley said. “I would go so far as to argue that’s the core of his base. So we need to do something for those folks.”