President Trump has adopted a CEO-style approach to getting tax reform through Congress: He’s the big-picture guy who gives marching orders and waits for House and Senate committees to hammer out the details.
The White House is promising the president will stay out of the nitty-gritty as long as the final deal provides relief to the middle class and lowers corporate tax rates to at least 20 percent.
“To a large degree, these decisions are now in the hands of Congress to figure out what they can pass to deliver relief to the American people,” said a White House official.
Republican leaders on Capitol Hill like it that way, and they’ve made it clear they don’t want Mr. Trump gumming up the works.
There is also abundant precedent for presidents allowing lawmakers to take the lead on major legislation, including for George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act and Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act.
In both those cases, however, it could be argued that the end product was overly legislated and resulted in a tangle of regulation with myriad unintended consequences.
Mr. Bush used two different approaches on tax cuts. His White House was deeply involved in the 2001 tax cut bill but let Congress take a leading role for the 2003 cuts.
“Either way can be successful,” said Tony Fratto, a senior adviser in the Bush White House.
It made sense for Mr. Trump and congressional leaders to agree on a framework and then let Congress fill in the blanks, he said, noting that House Speaker Paul D. Ryan had been working on tax reform since before Mr. Trump got into the presidential race.
“The criticism of the White House having just a principles-based proposal was off-base because it was a different situation. In 2001 Congress did not have a tax cut plan to compete with our ideas,” he said. “At the end of the day, if you are the president and you have an idea for your tax plan, you have to work with the Congress.”
He was optimistic that the White House and GOP-run Congress were on the right path to get tax reform done.
“Republicans need to do this. I don’t think they have another choice,” said Mr. Fratto.
The framework endorsed by Mr. Trump and GOP leaders called for major reductions in tax rates for individuals and businesses, the elimination of most deductions and a simplified tax code that will allow most filers to use a one-page form.
Despite Mr. Trump staying out of wheeling and dealing in committee rooms, some disagreements have already cropped up over emerging details.
The president pushed back against proposals to limit tax-deferred contributions to 401(k) retirement plans as a way to pay for tax cuts. His budget director, Mick Mulvaney, balked at talk of reversing plans to end the federal tax deduction for state and local taxes to appease Republicans from high-tax states such as New York and California.
Mr. Ryan joked Thursday that he isn’t worried about blowback from the president next week when they unveil the tax reform legislation.
“He’s going to be in Asia, No. 1,” the speaker said when asked if he was apprehensive about the rollout.
Mr. Trump leaves next week on a 12-day trip to Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines.
Mr. Ryan, Wisconsin Republican, quickly said he was joking, but the jest nevertheless underscored his preference for a Trump-free legislative process.
Even on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, Mr. Trump will be only a quip to the press or a tweet away from steering the debate in Washington.
During the health care debate, the president managed to dent House Republicans’ bill simply by calling it “mean.”
Jim Manley, a top aide to Senate Democratic leadership when Obamacare passed in 2010, said Mr. Trump was following the same model as Mr. Obama. But he also said that in every other way, the situations were completely different.
He credited Mr. Obama with being “steeped in policy” but making the strategic decision to hand over health care legislation to Congress.
The last time the White House wrote a major health care bill was in the 1990s, when legislation spearheaded by then-first lady Hillary Clinton went to the Hill and “failed in spectacular fashion,” recalled Mr. Manley.
Most major legislation since then has started with the White House setting broad goals and Congress turning the president’s vision into legislation.
Mr. Trump’s involvement could be just as explosive as Mrs. Clinton’s handiwork on Clintoncare, said Mr. Manley.
“The president with his tweets has made it pretty clear that he can blow things up on a moment’s notice. Which is why I think the leadership has made it clear they want him to take a pretty hands-off approach,” he said. “If President Trump or his team start getting involved, that’s going to be a recipe for disaster.”
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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