As President Donald Trump makes his first foray into congressional Republican negotiations over a federal government funding agreement, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt outlined what he will be seeking regarding taxes.
“These are the tax priorities of the Trump administration that the president has laid out for members in that meeting today: no tax on tips, which is obviously a very public campaign promise that the president made, no tax on seniors’ Social Security, no tax on overtime pay, renewing President Trump’s 2017 middle-class tax cuts,” Leavitt told reporters on Thursday.
Leavitt said Trump would also pursue adjusting the state and local tax deduction cap, removing special tax breaks for billionaire sports team owners, closing the carried interest tax deduction loophole, and introducing tax cuts for made-in-America products.
“This will be the largest tax cut in history for middle-class working Americans,” the press secretary added. “The president is committed to working with Congress to get this done.”
As Leavitt spoke with reporters, Trump’s meeting with House Speaker Mike Johnson, which started at 11 a.m., was ongoing amid disagreement over how Republicans in the House and Senate should proceed to keep the government open past March 14, in addition to how to fund some of the president’s policy priorities.
The meeting comes one day after Senate Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham (R-SC) announced he would commence marking up the Senate’s own $300 billion budget resolution next week, including money for the Pentagon, border security, and energy programs, as opposed to deferring to Johnson and the House.
Graham and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) want to enact Trump’s tax proposals through a second reconciliation bill. Trump, Johnson, House Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (R-MO), and Budget Chair Jodey Arrington (R-TX) would prefer a single reconciliation bill, arguing it will be easier to pass.
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The other disagreement is over the top line number for the budget as Tesla, SpaceX, and X CEO Elon Musk tries to make deep cuts to spending.