House Republicans plan to unveil their full tax overhaul outline next week and Speaker Paul D. Ryan joked Thursday that it was good President Trump will be out of town.
Mr. Ryan was answering a question about how the rollout would go, given that the president has weighed in from the outside and taken several key GOP options off the table — including changes to tax treatment of 401(k) retirement plans.
“He’s going to be in Asia, No. 1,” Mr. Ryan said in answering why he wasn’t worried about the rollout.
The speaker quickly said he was joking.
Even overseas, Mr. Trump’s views will be a major part of the GOP’s rollout. During the health care debate he helped dent House Republicans’ bill by calling it “mean.”
He’s been more enthusiastic about the tax overhaul, but has still weighed in on key issues, including saying he wouldn’t allow for changes to the tax-exempt status of income poured into 401(k) retirement plans.
Mr. Trump said that was a critical middle-class program.
Mr. Ryan, for his part, refused to take a stand on that specific issue, saying he was leaving the specifics to Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, a Texas Republican who is working on the blueprint.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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