Trump: Lawmakers should forgo Christmas for tax reform

President Trump said in an interview released Friday that lawmakers should forgo Christmas break if they do not pass tax reform before then.

“Well I think they should and I think they will,” Trump told Fox Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo when asked if lawmakers should remain in Washington if a bill isn’t passed by Thanksgiving.

“I think a lot of things are happening unless, you know, it’s going to be right after that. But I don’t even like them leaving,” he continued. “But I will say this, I want to get it by the end of the year, but I’d be very disappointed if it took that long.”

“It could be substantially less than that depending on what happens when we send the bill back to the House. You know, they’ll send it back and people are going to go and make 200 suggestions as opposed to maybe no suggestions because it’s a great bill. It’s going to be a great bill. And we’re adjusting,” he added. 

{mosads}

Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said last week that he’d keep lawmakers in Washington at Christmas time to vote on a tax bill if necessary.

Trump’s comments come after the Senate voted to approve the the fiscal 2018 budget on Thursday, bringing Republicans in the chamber closer to fulfilling their campaign promise of tax reform. 

The spending plan is essential to Republicans’ efforts to pass tax reform because it contains instructions that will allow them to avoid a Democratic filibuster.

The administration has been working with congressional Republicans to secure their first major legislative victory since Trump took office after efforts to repeal ObamaCare collapsed in the Senate.

The budget resolution passed this week would also allow the GOP tax proposal to add as much as $1.5 trillion to the deficit over 10 years.

“Passing this budget is critical to getting tax reform done, so we can strengthen our economy after years of stagnation under the previous administration,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said. 

Trump praised the 51-49 vote in a pair of tweets on Friday.

The Budget passed late last night, 51 to 49. We got ZERO Democrat votes with only Rand Paul (he will vote for Tax Cuts) voting against…..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 20, 2017 

….This now allows for the passage of large scale Tax Cuts (and Reform), which will be the biggest in the history of our country!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 20, 2017