NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Republicans in Congress have a slim chance of a huge victory: if the Republican Party can stick together and agree a budget resolution With the Republican Senate and President-elect Trump, every employer and employee in America can win a huge victory by the end of February: extending the Trump tax cuts.
But the debate among Republicans right now is whether we should choose the wide gate or the narrow gate. Right now, it looks like the Republican Party is headed for the wide gate. What a gamble. What a big bet. What an unnecessary risk.
If the Republican Party can hold its majorities together, it could pass not one but two budget reconciliation packages by early summer. That would give more time to refine the tax package, which is admittedly complex.
But they could get 70%+ of the tax package now, along with major border lifts and our military reconstruction. There is a lot of disagreement among Republicans over some of the fine print of the IRS code, and that means difficult negotiations lie ahead over some provisions of the tax law. But the cliché of the moment should be: the perfect should not be the enemy of the good. That’s what’s happening now.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS ADVICE
If for any reason the Republican majority in the House of Representatives The second reconciliation will not pass the mark and a huge tax increase will hit every business in America on January 1st. , 2026.
Small businesses need certainty more than anything else. They cannot be certain about the effectiveness of marketing or the best product mix. But they absolutely need certainty about the tax law. This also applies to retirees who are looking at withdrawals from their savings. This also applies to mega-cap companies that want to make huge investments in production or data facilities. All of these decisions are on hold until Congress provides certainty to the people it represents on at least most of the IRS code.
HOUSE GOP FISCAL HAWKS WARN TRUMP TAX REDUCTION IN RISK OF EXPIRING UNDER NEW SENATE-BACKED PLAN
President-elect Trump would do well to demand “all of the above” at the first reconciliation. Some members of Congress hear senior Trump adviser Stephen Miller’s demand for immediate legislative action on the border and confuse that consistent and coherent message with “Only the border matters.” Miller is absolutely right to insist on the need to approve and fully fund – 100% – the completion of the Wall, the expansion of the Border Patrol, and ICE facilities and authorities.
But Molenaar does not say that’s what the president-elect wants only the border and immigration provisions in the first budget reconciliation package. In addition to border regulations and military reconstruction, Trump promised expansion and overhaul of his signature tax cuts. He must deliver on that promise, which will in fact unleash the economic renaissance and productivity gains the country needs to calm inflation, lower interest rates and kick-start real economic growth.
The United States Capitol Building is seen in Washington DC, United States on December 2, 2024. (Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The country’s private sector needs certainty the tax code. As quickly as possible and as much as possible. Trump wants a second Trump boom — the kind of economy he presided over before COVID brought the world to a standstill for two years.
It’s all there for the taking, but the Republican party in Congress has become reluctant to demand the discipline of itself to get it all right now. It’s the biggest gamble I’ve seen since Leader McConnell announced that there would be no hearings and no votes on any nominee to replace Justice Scalia after the great man died so unexpectedly in early 2016.
McConnell rightly felt that the direction of the Supreme Court was a crucial issue, that Americans cared deeply about our fundamental trust in the Constitution as written and amended. McConnell made a big bet, which Trump saw and increased when he announced his list of possible nominees during the 2016, and which Barack Obama wrongly called by nominating Merrick Garland. Trump and McConnell (and the Constitution) won.
Now, however, the Republican majority in Congress is sending signals of timidity in the face of enormous opportunities. Senators and Representatives must now focus on winning a huge victory. Not just the border laws. Not just military reconstruction. But the tax cuts and much more.
A view of the US Capitol in Washington DC, United States, on November 4, 2024. Anthony Brandisi served one term in the US House of Representatives. (Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
It is a rare moment of opportunity for free markets and free peoples. But Congress must seize the moment and pass a big bill – a huge bill that will change the game. Fortune favors the bold, as does the 2026 election. Want to keep and grow the GOP majority? Let go of the American entrepreneur sooner rather than later (or never at all if bad things happen to the slim majority in the House of Representatives).
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Trump is going to get his nominees. And he can get everything he demands in the first budget and reconciliation. We hope the Transition Team will make time for the President-elect to meet with Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Thune to outline his “must haves.” Trump the developer will know that the opportunities are fleeting. Hopefully he can convince the Republican Party to pretend that the majority will be gone by April. Because it could be.
The ghost of Jim Jeffords should be haunting both sides of the hill right now. And if you don’t get that referral, you won’t understand why there is any real urgency at this point.
Hugh Hewitt hosts “The Hugh Hewitt Show,” heard weekdays from 6:00 to 9:00 a.m. ET on the Salem Radio Network, and simulcast on the Salem News Channel. Hugh is waking up America on over 400 affiliates across the country, and on all streaming platforms where SNC can be seen. He is a frequent guest on Fox News Channel’s roundtable hosted by Bret Baier weekdays at 6:00 PM ET. Hewitt, a son of Ohio and a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Michigan Law School, has been a professor of law at Chapman University’s Fowler School of Law since 1996, where he teaches constitutional law. Hewitt launched his eponymous radio program from Los Angeles in 1990. Hewitt has appeared regularly on every major national news television network, hosted television programs for PBS and MSNBC, written for every major American newspaper, authored a dozen books and moderated about two dozen Republican newspapers. candidate debates, most recently the November 2023 Republican presidential debate in Miami and four Republican presidential debates in the 2015-2016 cycle. Hewitt focuses his radio program and column on the Constitution, national security, American politics and the Cleveland Browns and Guardians. Hewitt has interviewed tens of thousands of guests during his four decades on the air, from Democrats Hillary Clinton and John Kerry to Republican Presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump, and this column previews the top story that will drive today are behind his radio/TV program.
