House and Senate Republicans seeking to reconcile the differences between their tax bills this week will face the harsh reality that not all of the tax breaks in the two bills can be signed into law, and that the GOP will have to choose which ones live and which ones die.
Congressional Republicans and President Trump have momentum on taxes, following the Senate’s passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in the early hours of Saturday morning. But they will quickly run into two constraints as they move to conference on the two bills.
The first is that they are limited to only a $1.5 trillion net tax cut over 10 years, thanks to instructions written into the budget process underlying the tax legislation. Because not all the tax cuts in both bills overlap with each other, not all of them will fit into that $1.5 trillion maximum.
The second is the Senate rule requiring that the bill not add to federal deficits beyond the 10th year.
With those parameters, Republicans face several key decisions:
Get the Exclusive
01.22.2025