Ted Cruz: Tax reform may not pass until ‘early next year’

Sen. Ted Cruz said Friday that tax reform may not happen until next year.

Mr. Cruz, Texas Republican, said on CNBC that he expects tax reform to get done “late this year or early next year” despite President Trump and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan insisting the legislation will pass this year. He said it will take “at least a couple months” to come together on a plan with Democrats.

“That’s why we need to focus on a real tax cut, and a tax cut that impacts real working men and women,” he said.

Mr. Cruz said that although the wealthy will pay less in taxes, Republicans are determined to see everyone’s taxes go down.

“If we don’t lower people’s taxes, we will have failed at our task. Getting to 50 is not going to be easy. Nobody is going to get everything they want. They’re going to be compromises. There are going to be trade-offs back and forth. I believe we can do it. What I can tell you is that I’m spending every waking moment trying to bringing Republicans together,” he said, referring to the Senate’s difficulty to reach a consensus. 

Mr. Cruz said Republicans need to go “bigger” and “bolder” on reducing the rates in order to see significant economic growth.

“The next several months are going to be hammering out the details of the tax cuts,” he said. “If we’re not lowering the rates enough, if we come out of this and a working family in Orange County is seeing their taxes go up because Republicans got elected, we did something really wrong.”