House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (Republican-California) Tuesday told reporters He opposes legislation that would abolish the IRS and replace the federal tax with a 30% sales tax.
Important reasons: The move effectively kills the law that was part of a deal McCarthy made with hardliners at his conference to secure him as chairman this month.
What we hear: A top Republican told Axios that McCarthy’s accord only guaranteed that the bill would be heard by committee, not that it would be voted on the floor.
- Rep. French Hill (R-Ark.), one of McCarthy’s negotiators, told Axios:
- Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.), chairman of the tax-focused Ways and Means Committee, told Axios: there. “
- “Chairman McCarthy thinks everything should be in order,” Smith added.
Line spacing: Democrats have already used the bill to attack the new Republican majority’s fiscal policy as extreme, and some of the most at-risk Republican freshmen in the House said they also voted against it. told Axios.
- Three New York Republicans — Mark Molinaro, Nick LaRota and Mike Lawler — represent the districts that President Biden won in 2020 and said they would vote against them if they were on the floor.
- “It’s not fair,” LaRota said simply of his objection.
By numbers: With Democrats uniformly opposed and Republicans holding a narrow majority, those four votes alone are likely enough to defeat the bill on the floor.
References: Biden’s new tax hammer
