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GOP push to make Trump’s 2017 tax cuts permanent, say going back would be a ‘dramatic’ change for many
Tax season is done.
And this year, Congressional Republicans converted tax season to «sales» season. Republicans and President Donald Trump are pushing to approve a bill to reauthorize his 2017 tax cut package. Otherwise, those taxes expire later this year.
«We absolutely have to make the tax cuts permanent,» said Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Wis., on FOX Business.
«We’ve got to get the renewal of the President’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. That’s absolutely essential,» said Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., on FOX Business.
Rates for nearly every American spike if Congress doesn’t act within the next few months.
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Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., talks with the media after the House passed the budget resolution on Thursday, April 10, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
«We are trying to avoid tax increases on the most vulnerable populations in our country,» said Rep. Beth Van Duyne, R-Texas, a member of the House Ways and Means Committee which determines tax policy. «I am trying to avoid a recession.»
If Congress stumbles, the non-partisan Tax Foundation estimates that a married couple with two children – earning $165,000 a year – is slapped with an extra $2,400 in taxes. A single parent with no kids making $75,000 annually could see a $1,700 upcharge on their tax bill. A single parent with two children bringing home $52,000 a year gets slapped with an additional $1,400 in taxes a year.
«Pretty significant. That’s an extra mortgage payment or extra rent payment,» said Daniel Bunn of the non-partisan Tax Foundation. «People have been kind of used to living with the policies that are currently in law for almost eight years now. And the shift back to the policy that was prior to the 2017 tax cuts would be a dramatic tax increase for many.»
But technically, Republicans aren’t cutting taxes.
«As simple as I can make this bill. It is about keeping tax rates the same,» said Sen. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma, on Fox.
Congress had to write the 2017 tax reduction bill in a way so that the reductions would expire this year. That was for accounting purposes. Congress didn’t have to count the tax cuts against the deficit thanks to some tricky number-crunching mechanisms – so long as they expired within a multi-year window. But the consequence was that taxes could climb if lawmakers failed to renew the old reductions.
«It sunsets and so you just automatically go back to the tax levels prior to 2017,» said Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.
A recent Fox News poll found that 45% of those surveyed – and 44% of independents believe the rich don’t pay enough taxes.
Democrats hope to turn outrage about the perceived tax disparity against Trump.
«He wants his billionaire buddies to get an even bigger tax break. Is that disgraceful?» asked Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., at a rally in New York.
«Disgrace!» shouted someone in the crowd.
«Disgraceful! Disgraceful!» followed up Schumer.
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., (R) speaks alongside Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., (L) to reporters during a news conference on the impacts of the Republican budget proposal at the U.S. Capitol on April 10, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)
Some Republicans are now exploring raising rates on the wealthy or corporations. There’s been chatter on Capitol Hill and in the administration about exploring an additional set of tax brackets.
«I don’t believe the president has made a determination on whether he supports it or not,» said White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt.
«We’re going to see where the President is» on this, said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent while traveling in Argentina. «Everything is on the table.»
A Treasury spokesperson then clarified Bessent’s remarks.
«What’s off the table is a $4.4 trillion tax increase on the American people,» said the spokesperson. «Additionally, corporate tax cuts will set off a manufacturing boom and rapidly grow the U.S. economy again.»
Top Congressional GOP leaders dismissed the idea.
«I’m not a big fan of doing that,» said House Speaker Mike Johnson on Fox. «I mean we’re the Republican party and we’re for tax reduction for everyone.»
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«I don’t support that initiative,» said House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., on FOX Business, before adding «everything’s on the table.»
But if you’re President Donald Trump and the GOP, consider the politics of creating a new corporate tax rate or hiking taxes on the well-to-do.
Sunrise light hits the U.S. Capitol dome on Thursday, January 2, 2025, as the 119th Congress is set to begin Friday. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
The president has expanded the GOP base. Republicans are no longer the party of the «wealthy.» Manual laborers, shop and storekeepers and small business persons now comprise Trump’s GOP. So maintaining these tax cuts helps with that working-class core. Raising taxes on the wealthy would help Republicans pay for the tax cuts and reduce the hit on the deficit. And it would shield Republicans from the Democrats’ argument that the tax cuts are for the rich.
Congress is now in the middle of a two-week recess for Passover and Easter. GOP lawmakers and staff are working behind the scenes to actually write the bill. No one knows exactly what will be in the bill. Trump promised no taxes on tips for food service workers. There is also talk of no taxes on overtime.
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Republicans from high-tax states like New York and Pennsylvania want to see a reduction of «SALT.» That’s where taxpayers can write off «state and local taxes.» This provision is crucial to secure the support of Republicans like Reps. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., and Mike Lawler, R-N.Y. But including the SALT reduction also increases the deficit.
So what will the bill look like?
«Minor adjustments within that are naturally on the table,» said Rounds. «The key though, [is] 218 in the House and 51 in the Senate.»
In other words, it’s about the math. Republicans need to develop the right legislative brew which commands just the right amount of votes in both chambers to pass. That could mean including certain provisions – or dumping others. It’s challenging. Especially with the slim House majority.
People attend a press conference and rally in support of fair taxation near the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. on April 10, 2025. (Bryan Dozier / Middle East Images / Middle East Images via AFP)
«There were trade-offs and offsets within that bill that many people are dissatisfied with,» said Bunn of the 2017 bill. «And it’s not clear how the package is going to come together with those various trade-offs.»
Johnson wants the bill complete by Memorial Day. Republicans know this enterprise can’t drag on too late into the year. Taxpayers would see a tax increase – even if it’s temporary – if working out the bill stretches into the fall when the IRS begins to prepare for the next tax season.
It’s also thought that finishing this sooner rather than later would provide some stability to the volatile stock markets. Establishing tax policy for next year would calm anxieties about the nation’s economic outlook.
«The big, beautiful bill,» Trump calls it, adding he wants the legislation done «soon.»
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And that’s why tax season is now sales season. Both to the lawmakers. And to the public.
Politics,Taxes,Congress,Donald Trump
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Biden-appointed judge who slapped down Trump deportation policy previously rebuked by SCOTUS
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A federal judge appointed by former President Joe Biden on Thursday again ruled against the Trump administration’s third-country deportation policy, months after the Supreme Court blocked his earlier decision and rebuked him in a rare follow-up order.
The Supreme Court not only stayed Boston-based Judge Brian Murphy’s injunction over the same deportation policy in a 6-3 order last June, but the high court followed up with a second 7-2 order a week later admonishing the judge for flouting its decision. Murphy’s latest ruling is also likely to land before the justices, setting up a fresh test of the judge’s decisions in the high-stakes case.
Murphy, who was confirmed by the Senate along party lines, had issued a sweeping 81-page decision on Thursday finding that the Department of Homeland Security’s process for deporting migrants to third countries (countries that are not specified in the migrants’ removal orders) was unlawful because it violated the migrants’ due process by not giving them enough time to raise fears that they could be tortured in the country they are sent to.
Judge Brian E. Murphy speaks at his Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on April 17, 2024. (U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary)
Murphy’s decision came after the judge last year issued a preliminary injunction that also blocked DHS from deporting migrants to third countries under the department’s current protocols. The Supreme Court’s order in June halted that decision, but, pointing to a technicality, Murphy said that a separate subsequent ruling he made on May 21 specifically addressing six migrants bound for South Sudan was still «in full force and effect» despite the high court’s stay.
The judge’s move led the Department of Justice to ask the Supreme Court for clarification, and the high court responded by issuing its follow-up 7-2 opinion saying Murphy could not block DHS from deporting the six migrants.
«Our June 23 order stayed the April 18 preliminary injunction in full. The May 21 remedial order cannot now be used to enforce an injunction that our stay rendered unenforceable,» the Supreme Court’s majority wrote.
In an unusual move, the majority also noted that if the government needed further help to stop Murphy’s interference, it could seek a writ of mandamus, a rare legal tool used by a higher court to force a lower court judge to follow the law.
Department of Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem (Getty Images/Alex Brandon)
The high court said it expected Murphy to «now conform [his] order to our previous stay and cease enforcing the April 18 injunction through the May 21 remedial order.»
Justice Elena Kagan, an Obama appointee who agreed with Murphy’s initial decision to block the deportations, sided with the majority in agreeing that the judge had acted defiantly.
«I do not see how a district court can compel compliance with an order that this Court has stayed,» Kagan wrote in a concurring opinion.
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Justice Elena Kagan joined the Supreme Court in 2010 after being nominated by former President Barack Obama. (Reuters/Jonathan Ernst)
The DOJ had fumed over Murphy’s attempt to block the deportation of the six migrants. Solicitor General John Sauer described it as a «lawless act of defiance» of the Supreme Court’s authority when seeking clarification from the high court.
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«For over two months now, the Executive has labored under an injunction that this Court yesterday deemed unenforceable,» Sauer wrote. «This Court should immediately make clear that the district court’s enforcement order has no effect, and put a swift end to the ongoing irreparable harm to the Executive Branch and its agents, who remain under baseless threat of contempt as they are forced to house dangerous criminal aliens at a military base in the Horn of Africa that now lies on the borders of a regional conflict.»
Murphy said in his ruling Thursday that DHS’s deportation policy was «not fine nor is it legal.» During the prior administration, when Murphy was appointed to the federal bench, Biden sought to undo Trump’s strict immigration policies, leading to nearly 10 million migrant encounters at the southern border. Biden also faced criticism for lax policies that involved releasing millions of migrants into the country during his tenure while they awaited immigration hearings. Border encounters have dropped dramatically since Trump retook office.
Murphy stayed his ruling for 15 days to give the Trump administration time to appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit, given what the judge acknowledged was the «importance» and «unusual history» of the case.
Fox News Digital’s Breanne Deppisch contributed to this report.
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Talks between Iran and the U.S. wrapped up in Geneva Thursday as officials cited «significant progress» and announced a next meeting set for Vienna within days.
Yet despite senior U.S. officials describing the third round as «positive,» per Axios, Iranian state television also reported that Tehran will continue enriching uranium and rejected proposals to transfer it abroad.
According to The Associated Press , the reports claimed Iran would also push for the lifting of international sanctions — signaling it is not prepared to meet President Donald Trump’s demands.
The negotiations were carried out primarily indirectly, with Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi relaying messages between the two sides.
Oman’s Foreign Affairs’ Minister Badr bin Hamad al-Busaidi gives a thumbs up as he leaves his hotel to reach Oman’s ambassador residency for new round of talks between the United States and Iran to address Iran’s nuclear program. (Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP via Getty Images)
In a post on X, al-Busaidi confirmed that the round had concluded and said discussions would resume soon.
«We have finished the day after significant progress in the negotiation between the United States and Iran,» he said on X.
«We will resume soon after consultation in the respective capitals. Discussions on a technical level will take place next week in Vienna. I am grateful to all concerned for their efforts: the negotiators, the IAEA, and our hosts, the Swiss government,» al-Busaidi said.
There was no immediate public statement from U.S. or Iranian officials after the session.
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Special envoy Steve Witkoff (C) and Jared Kushner (L) meet with Oman’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Albusaidi (R) in Geneva, Switzerland, to discuss ongoing diplomatic negotiations on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (Oman Ministry of Foreign Affairs/X)
Trump’s special Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, attended the three-hour negotiations with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi was also involved, with Iranian officials presenting a draft proposal for a potential nuclear agreement with the U.S., which has key demands.
Iran insists it has the right to enrich uranium and has appeared to refuse to negotiate over other issues, including its long-range missile program and support for armed groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
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Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei pictured sitting next to a senior military official in Iran. (Getty Images)
Trump, meanwhile, insists on a deal to curb Iran’s nuclear program. In his State of the Union address Feb. 24, the president said he prefers a diplomatic solution.
«My preference is to solve this problem through diplomacy, but one thing is certain: I will never allow the world’s number one sponsor of terror, which they are by far, to have a nuclear weapon,» the president said. «Can’t let that happen.»
As the Geneva talks unfolded Thursday, Ali Shamkhani, a senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, also wrote on X that if the main U.S. concern is preventing a nuclear weapon, that stance «aligns» with Khamenei’s fatwa and Iran’s defensive doctrine.
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He added that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has «sufficient support and authority» to come to a final agreement in the talks.
The development came as the U.S. continues assembling military assets, including a fleet of aircraft and warships in the Middle East.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.
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