(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) The Biden White House has pivoted on tax cuts, now begging Congress to extend certain sections of the Trump-era tax cuts, just days after struggling to clarify its position on allowing the legislation to expire before the 2024 deadline.
President Joe Biden’s top economic adviser, Lael Brainard, pleaded to Congress on Friday, calling for reauthorizing tax cuts only for Americans earning less than $400,000 annually.
The announcement came in the form of an official transcript of remarks delivered by Brainard at the Brookings Institute’s Hamilton Project. The New York Times first reported on these remarks.
“The President is honoring his ironclad commitment to not raise taxes on anyone making less than $400,000 and will cut taxes further for workers and families, paid for by asking corporations and those at the top to contribute more,” Brainard said.
Expanding on this statement, she continued, “Achieving a fairer tax system also means we cannot extend expiring TCJA tax cuts for those with incomes above $400,000 or bring back deductions and other tax breaks for these households. As the President has said, tax cuts for the wealthy will stay expired on his watch.”
This apparent flip-flop came less than a week after White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre struggled to articulate how Biden, who opposed the Trump-era tax cuts, would prevent tax increases if Congress did not renew the legislation.
On May 3, Fox Business reporter Edward Lawrence pressed Jean Pierre on whether Biden was prepared to raise taxes.
“If that law expires, it does raise taxes on almost every American,” he asserted. “Does he still support that expiring without anything else in place?”
In response, Jean Pierre initially contradicted herself, misleadingly claiming that Biden would allow the law to lapse but solely for wealthy individuals. She declined, at that time, to openly endorse elements of the Trump-era plan.
Lawrence challenged Jean Pierre’s assertion, declaring (correctly) that Biden “can’t pick and choose which parts of the law sunsets.”
He further noted, “The entire law will sunset, and the Tax Foundation says that someone who’s married, two kids, making $85,000 would pay $1,700 more in taxes. That’s somebody under $400,000.”
FBN’s @EdwardLawrence: “But he still — the President can’t pick and choose which part of the law sunsets. The entire law will sunset and the Tax Foundation says that someone who’s married, two kids, making 85,000 would pay $1,700 more in taxes. That’s somebody under $400,000 who… pic.twitter.com/ag6wMRCl9x
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 3, 2024
Enacted by Trump in 2017, the tax cuts provided nearly benefited almost all Americans. The law, enacted for an eight-year period, is set to expire in 2025.
