A Republican plan for tax reform could be worse for the American economy than previously thought, according to an estimate published Monday by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center.
In a fresh look at a tax plan being pitched by House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, the center estimated the proposal could reduce growth in the gross domestic product by 0.5 percent after a decade and by 2.6 percent after 20 years.
Fight between GOP House chairs imperils budget deal
By Sarah Ferris and Rachael Bade
06/27/2017 05:26 AM EDT
A fight between House Republican chairmen is threatening to upend a tentative budget deal enabling the chamber to take the first steps toward tax reform, forcing the budget panel to cancel plans to begin work this week.
Republican leadership and House Budget Committee Chairwoman Diane Black (R-Tenn.) reached a fragile agreement with defense hawks over the weekend, defusing a contentious matter over Pentagon spending that had held up the fiscal blueprint for weeks.
But several committee chairmen are now balking at the second part of the deal: a promise of about $50 billion in additional cuts to mandatory programs to make those defense increases more digestible for conservatives.
The pushback from chairmen, including Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike Conaway (R-Texas) and Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-Ore.), was so strong that the budget panel late Monday night halted plans to unveil its sweeping fiscal blueprint this week, two GOP budget sources told POLITICO.
The delay pushes back the committee’s long-awaited markup until at least July.
“It’s balancing what we need to get it out of committee, but also what it takes to get us in a place where it can pass on the floor,” one GOP source familiar with the budget said late Monday. “That requires a little bit more negotiation and work on everybody's part.”