Trump is pushing for an incredibly aggressive timeline for his massive tax plan
- President Donald Trump told business leaders he wants a tax reform bill passed in the House by Thanksgiving and on his desk by Christmas.
- This lines up with the timeline from Rep. Kevin Brady, chair of the House Ways and Means Committee.
- Analysts, however, do not think such a timeline is realistic.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday demanded an aggressive timeline for the coming Republican bill to overhaul the US tax code.
Speaking at a meeting of business lobby leaders at the White House, Trump said he wants the House to pass a bill by Thanksgiving and final approval by the end of the year.
"I want the House to pass by Thanksgiving, I want to see people standing by my side when we get ready to sign by Christmas, hopefully before Christmas," Trump said.
The timeline is similar to one being pushed by Rep. Kevin Brady, the chair of the House ways and Means Committee and chief author of the House version of the tax reform legislation.
Brady plans to debut the bill on Wednesday, the first time that full details will be public. A markup of the bill is scheduled for Monday and Brady wants to get the bill passed before the week-long Thanksgiving recess begins on November 17.
From there, the bill would need to be considered by the Senate Finance Committee, debated by the full Senate, and passed. If there are any differences between the House and Senate bills, either the House would have to pass the Senate plan or the two would need to iron out their differences in a conference committee.
According to Chris Krueger, an analyst at Cowen Washington Research Group, that sets up a serious time crunch.
"Any slippage in the House 'bull case' time-frame will very likely result in any type of tax bill being delayed to 2018," the analyst wrote in a note to clients on Monday. "The rush for the pre-Thanksgiving passage is largely due to the upcoming December 8 Continuing Resolution expiration (without 60 Senate votes, the government would shut down) and the fact that there are now only five full legislative weeks left in the year."
Isaac Boltansky, an analyst at research firm Compass Point, expressed pessimism for Trump's timeline in a note Tuesday.
"Top lawmakers continue to outline a wholly unrealistic timeline for action this year, which sets the stage for disappointment in the markets when Congress invariably falls short of these deadlines," Boltansky wrote.