No. 2 US House Republican mulls tying border policy to tax bill next
year
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[May 23, 2024]
By David Morgan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. congressional Republicans would aim to pass
a slew of tax, border and economic policies through a legislative
maneuver that would bypass Democratic objections, if they sweep the Nov.
5 elections, the No. 2 Republican in the House of Representatives said
on Wednesday.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said if Donald Trump wins the
presidency and Republicans win the Senate and keep the House, they will
use a process called "budget reconciliation" to retain tax cuts enacted
when Trump was president and to scale back Democratic-passed regulations
on energy and other industries.
Reconciliation allows lawmakers to enact fiscal legislation with
simple-majority votes in both chambers, bypassing normal Senate rules
requiring 60 of the 100 senators to agree on most legislation.
"It's something we're looking at to fix a lot of the problems that Joe
Biden created and get the economy moving again," Scalise told reporters
at the U.S. Capitol.
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Democrats used the same process to bypass Republican objections to
measures including a $430 billion bill meant to fight climate change and
lower drug prices passed in 2022 and signed into law by President Biden.
Republicans are favored to win a majority in the Senate, which currently
has a 51-49 Democratic majority, as Biden's party is defending seats in
at least three Republican-leaning states. But they are unlikely to win a
filibuster-proof 60-vote majority.
Scalise also said the strategy could allow Congress to shore up security
at the U.S.-Mexico border by funding more border security agents,
additional security technology and the completion of a border wall.
Even with full Republican control in Congress, tax and spending
legislation could still face obstacles.
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![](../images/052324PIX/news_x48.jpg)
U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) attends a press conference with House
Republicans at the Capitol in Washington, U.S., May 7, 2024.
REUTERS/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/File Photo
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The current 217-213 House Republican majority has had difficulty
moving Republican spending legislation over the past 18 months, with
progress stymied by party infighting over hardline demands for deep
spending cuts and poison-pill policy riders.
A $78 billion package of tax breaks for businesses and low-income
families managed to pass the House on a strong bipartisan vote in
January. However, the measure has stalled in the Senate, where it
has faced Republican opposition.
Trump has also been mulling a new middle-class tax cut, which could
prove popular with voters but could also worsen the U.S. budget
deficit.
The tax cuts that Scalise hopes to retain next year were implemented
through a massive tax-cut package after Trump won the presidency in
2016.
Democrats and other critics say Trump's cuts added $2 trillion to
the federal deficit, which now exceeds $34 trillion. Republicans
claim the policies aided tax receipts by fueling the buoyant growth
that characterized the U.S. economy before the COVID-19 pandemic
took hold in 2020.
(Reporting by David Morgan; Editing by Scott Malone and Jonathan
Oatis)
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