House Republican tax writers were clamming up Wednesday about their tax plans, a sign that negotiations were getting serious as they prepared to go into a second day of close-door talks.
“I’m not talking about anything associated with our ongoing deliberations,” said the normally chatty Rep. Blake Moore (R-Utah). “We’re in a new phase — everything was hypothetical three months ago.”
“I hope you’re not finding anybody who is willing to talk.”
Moore’s comments came as lawmakers on the Ways and Means Committee try to hash out their draft of a plan to address the expiration of some 40 expiring tax credits, along with additional tax proposals offered by President Donald Trump.
They met Monday for a lengthy policy session, amid Chair Jason Smith’s desire to get a bill — which would also include Trump’s energy, border and defense priorities — to the president’s desk quickly. The Senate, though, is just getting started.
Negotiations in the House have gotten far enough along that Ways and Means has begun eyeing when they might be able to unveil their plans and bring it before the committee to formally approve.
Some Republicans hope committee action would help generate momentum in other committees despite major questions over lawmakers’ stomach for spending cuts that are supposed to accompany their tax plans, and even though negotiations with the Senate over how to proceed are off to a creaky start.
