Tax reform talks to get serious after break

The White House and Republicans expect to begin the serious work of tax reform when Congress returns from a two-week break at the end of April.

Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee plan hearings on the tax reform plan that committee Chairman Kevin Brady and House Speaker Paul Ryan have been advocating since June. Members of the committee are still discussing the timing and topics of the hearings, a committee aide said Monday.

Meanwhile, the Trump White House tax team, mostly members of the National Economic Council, according to a White House spokesman, is planning meetings with congressional leaders on tax legislation when they return from their states and districts in the last week of April.

Gary Cohn, director of the National Economic Council, said in a Friday interview with Bloomberg TV that the administration was "going to launch with one cohesive plan together" with Republicans in the House and Senate.

To do that, and to have legislation to President Trump's desk before the end of the year as intended, the White House would have to sort through and decide on an enormous number of policy differences that divide Republicans, starting with the House Republican proposal to adjust taxes at the border. Trump has yet to say where he stands on that idea, which is fiercely opposed by retailers and refineries that would see their imports taxed.