A source said the president had made the policy request as recently as Wednesday. Punchbowl News reported Thursday that Trump asked Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) directly to back the policy.
The proposal, according to three sources, would allow the top marginal income tax rate cut that Trump signed into law in 2017 to expire at the end of the year for the highest-income Americans — meaning that rate would rise from 37 percent to 39.6 percent — while Republicans would extend the 2017 tax cuts for the lower tax brackets.
While the top tax bracket for 2024 applied to incomes higher than $609,351 for single filers and $731,201 for joint filers, the White House is pitching a new higher rate that would apply to those with incomes greater than $2.5 million for single filers or $5 million for joint filers, according to one source with knowledge of the pitch. Punchbowl News first reported those figures.
“The President is considering allowing the rate on individuals making $2.5 million or more to revert from 37% to the pre-2017 39.6%. This will help pay for massive middle and working-class tax cuts, and protect Medicaid,” a source familiar with the president’s thinking said.
The inclusion of any tax hike in the GOP’s megabill would be a massive reversal for House Republican leadership, which indicated in recent weeks that the prospect was off the table.
The Hill’s Emily Brooks and Mychael Schnell have the latest here.
