$4.7 trillion

Smith swipes at Arrington's budget plan

The House Ways and Means chair continued his squabble with Budget Chair Arrington over how much to set aside for tax cuts in the GOP's budget plan.

Benjamin Guggenheim

House Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) said Republicans' budget plan has to grant more room for President Donald Trump's tax policies, putting him at odds with House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) and other hardliners.

GOP lawmakers had tentatively settled on a plan last week to instruct the Ways and Means Committee to not increase deficits by more than $4.7 trillion to accommodate the cuts.

But a blueprint circulated by GOP leaders Monday night was expected to contain an even lower number to appease deficit hawks, including Arrington. That would leave barely any wiggle room for Smith to extend the 2017 tax cuts that are set to expire at the end of the year — much less Trump's plan to end taxes on tips, overtime pay and other things.

“Let me just say that a ten-year extension of President Trump’s expiring provisions is over $4.7 trillion, according to [the Congressional Budget Office],” said Smith. “Anything less would be saying that President Trump is wrong on tax policy.”

The Budget Committee is planning to take up a blueprint as early as Thursday that would include an extension of Trump's 2017 tax cuts and several of his other tax proposals, along with energy and border provisions.

The CBO projected in May 2023 that an extension of the cuts would cost around $4.6 trillion, but the cost is likely higher given increased budget deficits and interest payments.