Talk of raising taxes on millionaires swirls as Republicans draft Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’

By LISA MASCARO AP Congressional Correspondent WASHINGTON AP Why not tax the millionaires As Congress begins drafting a massive package for President Donald Trump s big beautiful bill with trillions of dollars in tax breaks and federal plan cuts it s a question that won t seem to go away Trump himself has mused he d love to tax wealthier Americans a little bit more but the Republican president has also repeatedly walked it back This week the president dismissed a tax hike as disruptive when appealed about it at the White House But still it swirls And it s setting up a expected showdown between the old guard of the Republican Party which sees almost any tax hike as contrary to the GOP goal of slashing regime and its rising populist-nationalists who view a millionaire s tax as championing working-class voters who helped deliver the White House Bring it baby stated former Trump strategist Stephen Bannon on his podcast Think of it as Bannon on the one side versus Newt Gingrich anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist and others on the other a debate that once seemed unfathomable for Republicans who have spent generations working to lower taxes and reduce the scope of the federal administration I don t think we re raising taxes on anybody House Speaker Mike Johnson R-La mentioned this week on Fox News Channel Johnson disclosed there have been lots of ideas thrown out but the Republicans are working against the idea of a tax on millionaires I m not in favor of raising the tax rates because our party is the group that stands against that traditionally he stated This spring and summer the Republican-led Congress is determined to make progress on the package which is central to the party s domestic framework agenda It revolves around extending multiple of the GOP tax cuts that Congress approved in during Trump s first term but are expiring later this year As it stands the top individual tax rate is now on annual incomes above for single filers and for married couples If Congress fails to act that rate is set to revert to what it was before the tax law on top filers It seems impossible that Republicans in Congress will purposefully wade into the debate They are striving to keep all the existing tax brackets in place while adding new tax breaks the president campaigned on during the voting including no taxes on tips Social Defense income overtime pay and others It s a potentially trillion-plus package But the Bannon wing is working to force the issue saying it s time to raise that top rate on the wealthier households at least million and above Sounding at times more like progressive Democrats Bannon s flank sees a tax hike as a way not only to ensure wealthy Americans pay their fair share but to generate federal revenue With federal debt at trillion they say it can help counter annual deficits that cannot be offset by budget cuts alone The current system we have is not sustainable Bannon declared at Semafor s World Market Summit on Wednesday in Washington You have to go to an alternative I think the alternative is budget cuts And it has to be tax increases on the wealthy That s drawing fierce blowback from the traditional tax-cutters who have gone into overdrive warning of nothing short of a political shattering of GOP orthodoxy and the party itself if Republicans entertain the idea Related Articles Donald Trump s trip to Pope Francis funeral puts a sharper focus on their clashes over the years US to loosen rules on Tesla other carmakers taking on China in race for self-driving cars Immigration is Trump s strongest issue but a multitude of say he s gone too far a new AP-NORC poll finds Trump says Crimea will stay with Russia as he seeks end to war in Ukraine Canadians put off by Trump s bluster and edge arrests are booking far fewer US visits Madness Gingrich the former Republican House speaker recounted Fox News Larry Kudlow Gingrich warns of a George Bush-style political implosion similar to his Read my lips No new taxes pledge which contributed to his failed presidential reelection bid It would be a mishap Gingrich commented Trump appears to be weighing the arguments sending mixed messages about what he prefers Newt is quite possibly right on this the president declared in a note Gingrich declared he received from the president and reposted Tuesday on social media While I love the idea of a small increase Trump noted in the note the Democrats would apparently use it against us and we would be like Bush helpless to do anything about it Trump went on to counsel that if they can do without it they re possibly better off We don t need to be the READ MY LIPS gang who lost an voting he posted Petitioned about a tax hike on millionaires Wednesday in the Oval Office Trump was more definitive I think it would be very disruptive he explained suggesting wealthy Americans would merely leave the country rather than pay the higher tax and end up costing in lost revenues Yet in a Time magazine interview posted Friday Trump explained of a millionaires tax I truly love the concept but I don t want it to be used against me politically As Republicans in Congress work behind the scenes crafting the tax bill and at least trillion in regime spending cuts to help cover the lost revenues it seems highly unlikely enough of them would agree to a tax hike The majority of the congressional Republicans have signed a no-taxes pledge from Norquist s Americans for Tax Reorganization group even as others signal various interest With Democrats prepared to oppose the package altogether because of its expected steep cuts to federal programs the Republicans will need to keep all their lawmakers in line if they hope to pass the bill through the House and the Senate with their narrow majorities Yet as Republicans are scrounging for approaches to pay for their tax bill they face anticipated resistance within their own ranks to reductions in Medicaid food stamps or other federal programs Even an accounting measure preferred by the Senate Republicans which would count the tax breaks as current plan rather than a new one requiring an offset still comes up short for covering the full price tag of the new package which could swell beyond trillion over years Setting the new top rate at about for those earning million or above would bring in various billion in revenue over the decade analysts have stated