White House hits GOP over reported corporate tax cut preparations

The White House on Monday seized on reporting that Republican lawmakers are preparing to extend tax cuts from the first Trump administration and lower rates for corporations if the GOP wins control of the White House and Congress in November.

In a memo from deputy press secretary Andrew Bates, the White House cited a Washington Post report that Republican lawmakers and some Trump advisers are weighing additional corporate tax breaks if the party gains control of government next year.

"Today’s Washington Post story makes it impossible to ignore the enormous contrast between President Biden’s agenda to rebuild the middle class and MAGAnomics," Bates wrote in a memo.

"Republican officials who back MAGAnomics stand up for price gouging, tax giveaways for the rich, and across the board tariffs that would all raise prices, and they’d sell the middle class out with a skyrocketing deficit and cuts to Medicare and Social Security," he added.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, passed in 2017, cut the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent and lowered individual tax rates. The individual tax cuts expire in 2025, while the corporate tax rate was lowered permanently under the law.

Republicans are getting ready to fast-track the extension of the Trump tax cuts through the reconciliation process, lawmakers told The Hill. GOP officials have argued lowering the corporate tax rate would increase global competitiveness for business in the U.S.

While most legislation needs the support of 60 senators to avert a filibuster, budget reconciliation allows lawmakers to pass major tax and spending bills with a simple majority — and without bipartisan backing.

The White House has cited warnings from economists who said that increased corporate tax cuts, paired with other Trump proposals like imposing tariffs on all imports into the U.S., could lead to a surge in inflation and further increase the national debt.

President Biden has touted his own economic agenda, which has led to low unemployment and slow but consistent declines in inflation from its peak in 2022. But polling has shown voters are still frustrated by high costs and still trust former President Trump more on matters of the economy.

A May poll from ABC News/Ipsos found 85 percent of participants said inflation is an important issue for them, making it the second-highest priority behind the economy in general. That poll found participants said they trusted Trump more than Biden on both inflation and the economy by a 14 point margin.