Some pro-family advocates are disappointed that the budget space dedicated to the “MAGA” savings accounts included in the Republican tax bill was not plowed into the child tax credit instead.

The MAGA accounts, short for “money accounts for growth and advancement,” are a form of savings account for children that were included in the tax legislation advanced by House Republicans on the Ways and Means Committee this week, to the surprise of many in the party and outside analysts. And after years of pushing for a turbocharged child tax credit, some family advocates think that creating savings accounts that cannot be accessed for years does little to help struggling families.

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“I just don’t think that’s solving the real problems American families are facing,” Leah Libresco Sargeant, a Catholic author and commentator on family and culture, told the Washington Examiner.

The MAGA accounts would be funded through the Treasury Department with a $1,000 credit for U.S. citizens born from 2025 through 2028. Parents and families could then contribute up to $5,000 per year to those MAGA accounts.

The beneficiaries will not be permitted to pull from their MAGA accounts until they turn 18, at which time they can withdraw up to half of the funds only for higher education costs, training programs, small business loans, or first-time home purchases.

At age 25, the account holder can withdraw any and all funds from the account, but only to be used for the same reasons. At 30, the funds may be withdrawn and used however the account holder wants with no limitations.

The accounts would cost the Treasury just over $17 billion over 10 years, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) pushed for the MAGA accounts language to be included in the legislation, and he said in a statement to the Washington Examiner that it will help ensure prosperity and economic participation for children in the years to come.

“There is enormous momentum for Invest America accounts, including from President Trump and my colleagues here in Congress,” Cruz said. “The accounts will be transformative, providing every child in America with resources that compound over their lives, which will enhance the prosperity and economic participation of the vast majority of Americans.”

The tax legislation included boosting the child tax credit to $2,500 through 2028. The increase to $2,500 is essentially an inflation adjustment, given that it is about how much the credit would need to be to have the same purchasing power as when it was doubled to $2,000 as part of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The increase, though, is only temporary. The credit would revert to $2,000 in 2029, although it would then be indexed to inflation.

But that number is lower than what some advocates of a bigger child tax credit have pushed for. For instance, Vice President JD Vance said he supported a $5,000 tax credit while on the campaign trail with President Donald Trump.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) has also pushed for a bigger child tax credit than the $2,500 level. Hawley told the Washington Examiner this week that he was not too enthusiastic about the MAGA accounts.

“That’s not my favorite proposal, to be honest with you … when you can’t touch it,” Hawley said. “Why not give people a tax cut? It’s also … you’re going to just give people money, but it’s not that you get it now. I don’t know, it seems a little strange to me.”

Patrick T. Brown, a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, where he focuses on a pro-family economic agenda, said the MAGA accounts are “mostly a missed opportunity.” He said in an email to the Washington Examiner that it is perhaps a laudable goal but that immediate assistance to families is more pressing.

“I am heartened to see an expansion in the child tax credit as part of the bill, but I’d encourage Republicans to swap out accounts that won’t benefit anyone for at least 18 years in favor of upfront assistance to new parents — a bigger impact move, and one that will have more political upside,” Brown said.

Likewise, Sargeant told the Washington Examiner separately from the interview that the $1,000 the government would put into the accounts could instead be given to parents in a lump sum.

“For the same price, you can provide a baby bonus that lets parents make a strong start … rather than locking up money until age 18 or even 30, depending on what it’s used for,” she said.

Some on the Right have favored baby bonuses as a way to aid families and arrest the decline in birth rates. President Donald Trump expressed support for the idea this spring.

Still, others see the MAGA accounts as achieving separate goals from the child tax credit.

Rep. Blake Moore (R-UT), who is notably one of the biggest advocates of a bigger child tax credit, introduced a stand-alone bill this week identical to that found in the Ways and Means Committee legislation. He also worked with Cruz to get the MAGA accounts language included in reconciliation.

Moore sat down with the Washington Examiner on Thursday in his office to discuss how he thinks the accounts are a novel and important way to show young people the power of investment and economic responsibility.

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Moore also pushed back on those who think the accounts should not have been included in the tax package. He said he thinks it is a “myopic” way of thinking about the child tax credit and the savings account plans.

“Creating an opportunity to be able to have a child monitor and watch growth like this, engage in compounding interest from an early age — it’s a game changer for the way that they think about the rest of their entire investment experience,” said the Utah congressman, who has a seat on the Ways and Means Committee.