Trump weighs in on Republicans' tax bills, possibly throwing a monkey wrench into their plan
- President Donald Trump tweeted about the Republican tax plan on Monday.
- Trump said the bill should include the repeal of Obamacare's individual mandate.
- That would raise revenue for the bill, but also complicate the political math.
President Donald Trump on Monday weighed in via Twitter on the latest GOP tax plans.
Trump praised new bills in the House and Senate, called the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), but suggested a few improvements.
"I am proud of the Rep. House & Senate for working so hard on cutting taxes {& reform.} We're getting close!" Trump tweeted from Asia, where he is attending an economic summit in the Philippines. "Now, how about ending the unfair & highly unpopular Indiv Mandate in OCare & reducing taxes even further? Cut top rate to 35% w/all of the rest going to middle income cuts?"
Trump's tweet reiterated a long-standing push for the tax bill to include a repeal of the Affordable Care Act's penalty for not having health insurance. The Congressional Budget Office determined in a new report Wednesday that the mandate's repeal would decrease the federal deficit by $338 billion over the next 10 years, but would also leave 13 million more people without coverage than under current law.
Sens. Ted Cruz and Tom Cotton have also advocated for the repeal, with Cruz attacking the House TCJA because it does not include the provision. (The Senate legislation also does not include it.)
Trump and others have argued the move would allow Republicans to make their tax plan more generous, including cutting the top tax rate to 35%. The House's bill would keep the top rate at 39.5% while the Senate would lower it slightly to 38.5%.
Whether or not the mandate repeal would be enough to offset the reduced rate Trump proposes is unclear. But it would add another difficult layer to the already complex math issue that Republican leaders are facing, since the bill can only add $1.5 trillion to the deficit over 10 years.
Adding healthcare into the already contentious tax issue could also complicate the road ahead. Senate Republicans were unable to pass any Obamacare repeal and replace bill over the summer, and an individual mandate repeal could face similar pushback from some Republican senators.