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A few dozen centrist House Democrats have been receptive to the pitch, even as GOP Hill leaders pursue a partisan path.
“We’d prefer bipartisan support for the tax plan,” Marc Short, White House director of legislative affairs, said in an interview. “We still think we can earn the support of [Democrats] on the tax package.”
The Trump White House is quietly courting a few dozen House Democrats on tax reform — eager to avoid the fate of the GOP's straight party-line attempt to jam through a repeal of Obamacare.
Even as congressional GOP leaders largely embrace a partisan path on taxes, White House officials have been wooing 15 to 20 centrist House Democrats since early summer. The Trump administration is all too aware of congressional Republicans’ struggles to come together on a range of hot-button issues — from health care to government spending — and tax reform is littered with political minefields for the party.
So the president and his staff are opening a line of communication with moderate Democrats in case a Plan B is needed. At a mid-June dinner at the White House with four centrist House Democrats, President Donald Trump expressed interest in a bipartisan package combining tax reform with infrastructure spending, multiple sources said.
Since then, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, chief economic adviser Gary Cohn and top White House staff have huddled with conservative Democrats in the Blue Dog Coalition and the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus.
“We’d prefer bipartisan support for the tax plan,” Marc Short, White House director of legislative affairs, said in an interview. “We still think we can earn the support of [Democrats] on the tax package.” Short acknowledged, however, that Hill Republicans “will choose the path that they want.”
“The door is open, and this should be a bipartisan issue,” said Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.). “I hope they consider us.”
More than most other minority members, “centrist Democrats are more focused on doing what can be done to lower the corporate rates and the rates for [small businesses],” said Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.), who is working on a list of Blue Dog tax priorities and red lines that will be made public this fall.
In the Senate, three of 48 members of the Democratic caucus declined to endorse a letter outlining their opposition to any bill that would add to the deficit or cut taxes for the top 1 percent of earners. One of those three, West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, said he hasn’t heard from the White House recently, but has expressed openness to a tax reform deal.
Politico
“We’d prefer bipartisan support for the tax plan,” Marc Short, White House director of legislative affairs, said in an interview. “We still think we can earn the support of [Democrats] on the tax package.”
The Trump White House is quietly courting a few dozen House Democrats on tax reform — eager to avoid the fate of the GOP's straight party-line attempt to jam through a repeal of Obamacare.
Even as congressional GOP leaders largely embrace a partisan path on taxes, White House officials have been wooing 15 to 20 centrist House Democrats since early summer. The Trump administration is all too aware of congressional Republicans’ struggles to come together on a range of hot-button issues — from health care to government spending — and tax reform is littered with political minefields for the party.
So the president and his staff are opening a line of communication with moderate Democrats in case a Plan B is needed. At a mid-June dinner at the White House with four centrist House Democrats, President Donald Trump expressed interest in a bipartisan package combining tax reform with infrastructure spending, multiple sources said.
Since then, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, chief economic adviser Gary Cohn and top White House staff have huddled with conservative Democrats in the Blue Dog Coalition and the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus.
“We’d prefer bipartisan support for the tax plan,” Marc Short, White House director of legislative affairs, said in an interview. “We still think we can earn the support of [Democrats] on the tax package.” Short acknowledged, however, that Hill Republicans “will choose the path that they want.”
“The door is open, and this should be a bipartisan issue,” said Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.). “I hope they consider us.”
More than most other minority members, “centrist Democrats are more focused on doing what can be done to lower the corporate rates and the rates for [small businesses],” said Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.), who is working on a list of Blue Dog tax priorities and red lines that will be made public this fall.
In the Senate, three of 48 members of the Democratic caucus declined to endorse a letter outlining their opposition to any bill that would add to the deficit or cut taxes for the top 1 percent of earners. One of those three, West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, said he hasn’t heard from the White House recently, but has expressed openness to a tax reform deal.
Politico
