WASHINGTON — Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer is challenging Republicans to vote against a bipartisan tax cut bill that would expand the child tax credit to millions of families and restore some tax breaks for businesses.
And Republicans appear poised to do so Thursday, with many saying they will have more leverage to push through the tax changes they want if their party wins control of the White House and both houses of Congress in November’s elections. Much of the tax-cutting package passed under Republican control in 2017 is set to expire after 2025, putting tax issues front and center.
“I think we can do better next year,” said Sen. John Cornyn, Republican of Texas.
It will likely be the last vote senators will take before heading home for the August recess, and it shows that both parties are trying to highlight issues they think will appeal to voters in November. Democrats are also looking to counter claims by Donald Trump’s running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, that Democrats are “anti-family.”
“The American people will have an opportunity to see which senators actually support tax relief for parents, businesses and housing, and who opposes it,” Schumer said.
The roughly $79 billion plan passed the House overwhelmingly in January, 357 to 70. But it has stalled in the Senate. The procedural vote to advance the measure would require the support of 60 senators, which is unlikely.
The bill was developed through negotiations between Republican Rep. Jason Smith, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, and Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. It would restore full, upfront deductions for businesses to purchase new equipment and machinery, as well as for domestic research and development spending. It would also help more low-income families take full advantage of the child tax credit.
According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the changes to the child tax credit would lift up to 500,000 people out of poverty when the proposal takes full effect. In total, the families of some 16 million children would benefit, the liberal think tank said.
The bill is being paid by speeding up the deadline for businesses to submit retroactive claims for employees they kept on payroll during the COVID pandemic. The IRS said a large majority of retroactive claims pose a high risk of fraud.
With the bill seemingly lacking the support to clear procedural hurdles, Schumer had opted for months not to bring it to a vote. But the election season has given Democrats an opportunity to focus on the issue and shine a spotlight on Vance. Schumer even referred to the “junior senator from Ohio” during his Senate floor speech, leaving no doubt that he is part of their thinking about holding the vote.
In an interview with Fox News, Vance claimed that Vice President Kamala Harris had called for an end to the child tax credit. But the Biden administration led efforts to bolster the child tax credit during the pandemic and fought unsuccessfully to continue this expansion, which temporarily increased the credit to $3,000 per year, added 17-year-olds and increased the amount to $3,600 for children under age six.
Schumer called Vance’s claim “utter nonsense” and said the 2021 expansion was one of Democrats’ most significant accomplishments under the Biden-Harris administration.
In 2021, Vance also suggested that political leaders who don’t have biological children “don’t really have a vested interest” in the country. He reiterated his comments after excerpts of them resurfaced when he said earlier this week on SiriusXM radio’s “The Megyn Kelly Show” that the Democratic Party had become “anti-family and anti-child.”
“Republicans have made great speeches about supporting families and children, and they say it over and over again. But when it comes time to vote, they’re not there,” Wyden said. “Now they’re going to be able to vote, and we’re going to be able to see who’s going to be there for children and families.”
Democratic Sens. Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, both running for reelection this fall, spoke extensively on the Senate floor in support of the bill. But Cornyn, the Texas Republican, called Thursday’s action the latest in a series of “show votes” that were designed to fail but would provide Democrats with “a talking point or two for the campaign.” He said the bill should have been subject to a Senate committee hearing that would have allowed lawmakers to shape it before it reached the Senate floor.
Sen. John Thune, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, said he expected a few Republicans to vote in favor of the measure, but he predicted that would not be enough to reach the 60-vote threshold needed to advance the bill. He said there were some good things in the legislation, but “if we’re able to do it next year, it’s going to be a much stronger bill.”
Thune said it won’t be difficult for Republicans to reject criticism that they don’t support enough tax breaks for businesses and families.
“Voters instinctively know that Republicans are better at certain things,” Thune said. “They can try to make that argument in a political ad, but I think it’s going to be hard to make that argument when most voters know that Republicans were the ones who cut taxes in 2017 and that next year Republicans will be the ones who extend those tax cuts if we have a majority.”
