FROM THE HILL: President Trump and Republican lawmakers passed their major tax-and-spending cut bill earlier this summer, faster than almost anyone else in Washington, D.C., was expecting.
Now, they’re planning their second act.
The new law extended Republicans’ 2017 tax-rate reductions while making big cuts to healthcare and other social programs, adding $3.4 trillion to the national deficit through the next decade.
But there’s still plenty of tax policy left for Congress to tackle this fall, including a number of expiring provisions that weren’t covered in the main reconciliation package.
Trump and Republicans could attempt to unite around another tax package and budget resolution, the vehicle on which it could pass both the House and Senate with simple majorities.
“It is a once-in-a-trifecta opportunity. You get two shots, and even if you use your first shot, you still have to try to use your second shot,” said accountancy KPMG’s national tax principal Jennifer Acuna. “There’s still fiscal year 2026 that can be utilized for a reconciliation bill.”
She added, “Congress is going to have the opportunity. They’re going to at least try to utilize that reconciliation opportunity.”
Other tax watchers believe Trump’s “big beautiful bill” will hinder efforts this fall to pass a second reconciliation bill.
They argue a bipartisan tax extenders package, attached to other legislation, is a more viable approach to further tax policy progress.
“Least in terms of likelihood is some sort of reconciliation 2.0 – Too Big, Too Beautiful, or whatever we’re calling it,” Rohit Kumar, co-head of accountancy PwC’s national tax practice and former Senate GOP aide, told The Hill. “I’m just pretty skeptical that Republicans are going to be able to unite on another budget resolution and then another budget reconciliation bill.”
Kumar thinks a second reconciliation bill will do better next year,
“You could see Republicans make an argument, ‘Let’s do a reconciliation bill, because it’s our last chance to do one, at least for the next couple years,’” he added.
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