Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) tore into Rep. Jason Smith (R-MO) and House Republicans, claiming that the GOP’s concession to Democrats over a consequential tax bill would help Democrats “expand the welfare state.”
In a Wall Street Journal op-ed released this week, the senator reiterated his disapproval of the child tax credit legislation passed in the House last month, claiming Republican lawmakers were deceived into believing the bill would advance their priorities.
The $78 billion bipartisan bill that would cut taxes for corporate businesses and boost the child tax credit was negotiated by Smith and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR). When it advanced out of the House, it sparked intraparty division.
Smith, who chairs the House Ways and Means Committee, has been trying to push the bill through the Senate before the filing season ends, but he has faced opposition from Republican senators who are concerned about how the tax credit bill would use the employee retention tax credit to cover the cuts.
Tillis has been a staunch critic of the bill, telling the Washington Examiner earlier this month that he “would be happy if the bill died” and thinks it will.
“As always, the devil is in the details,” Tillis wrote in his op-ed. “Senate Republicans have been doing their homework to find out what is actually Mr. Smith and Sen. Ron Wyden’s Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024 and what implications it would have on future tax policy. … It’s hard to avoid the impression that House Republicans got played by Senate Democrats doing the bidding of the Biden administration.”
The Senate GOP should back the bill as modifications to the legislation were made to remedy Republicans’ concerns, Smith told Axios.
“When we first originally started out, it was going to be $47 billion on the business and $47 billion on the child tax credit, and Senate Republicans said, ‘No, it needs to be around $30 billion,’ and so that’s why we moved it down to $30 on each side,” Smith said.
Still, Tillis claimed that by allowing people to receive the tax credit even after being out of work for over a year, the bill would incentivize people not to work.
“The fundamental problem with the bill is that Republicans made a major concession to Democrats, allowing the child tax credit to begin to transition into a de facto welfare program, in return for something Democrats already wanted: research-and-development tax breaks for businesses,” he continued.
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Tillis added that his fellow Republican senators “should know better” and that it would be in Republicans’ best interest if the bill did not pass, claiming the bill promotes welfare, not tax relief. The senator also accused House Republicans of giving Democrats and President Joe Biden a “victory” ahead of the November election after conceding on negotiations.
“How can any fiscal conservative defend using phony savings to pay for more spending?” he wrote. “It’s like paying off a credit-card balance with another credit card. It’s fiscally irresponsible and unsustainable.”
