'Biggest challenge': Even Republicans are nervous about Trump’s new $4.6 trillion tax cut

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) walks on the day of a press conference for House Republicans, following their leadership meeting, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., November 13, 2024. REUTERS/Nathan Howard
Carl Gibson
November 30, 2024Push Notification

Despite Republicans keeping the House of Representatives and flipping control of the Senate, some are acknowledging that extending President-elect Donald Trump's tax cuts in 2025 will be a tall order.

In a recent Politico article, several Republican members of Congress expressed worry that renewing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TJCA) of 2017 could be difficult given its $4.6 trillion price tag. While the initial legislation came with an estimated cost of $1.5 trillion over 10 years, Politico reported that extending the approximately 40 provisions in the law would come in at a cost of $4 trillion over that same time period, with another $600 billion in interest.

The bulk of those tax cuts overwhelmingly benefit the rich. According to CNN, an analysis from July found that if the TJCA was extended next year, the richest 5% of taxpayers would reap almost half the benefits. Those making $450,000 and up would see their incomes increase by 3.2%, while the richest 1% — who make $1 million a year or more – would get an average tax cut of nearly $70,000. And the top 0.1% richest Americans would see a whopping $280,000 average reduction in their own taxes.

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Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.), who sits on the House Ways and Means Committee (which oversees tax-related matters) was skeptical that the GOP would be able to easily pass the new tax cuts without a big fight even among members of his own party.

"That’s going to be the biggest challenge for the [House Republican] conference," he said.

Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-Texas), who chairs the House Budget Committee, is also wary of any new tax cuts that will add to the federal deficit. In order to make the new round of tax cuts deficit-neutral, Arrington is pondering pairing them with cuts to Medicaid (the health insurance program for the poorest Americans), repealing green energy tax breaks and increasing taxes on corporate profits booked overseas that get repatriated. But House Ways and Means chairman Jason Smith (R-Mo.) told Politico he was less concerned about paying for a new round of tax cuts.

"“Look at history — were the Bush tax cuts paid for?” He said.

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Click here to read Politico's article in full.