House Speaker Paul Ryan and his staff met with top Trump administration officials to discuss the future of tax policy during a marathon, closed-door meeting Monday night.
Chief Strategist Steve Bannon, designated Treasure Secretary Steven Mnuchin, senior sdviser Jared Kushner, incoming White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, incoming National Economic Council head Gary Cohn, incoming Deputy Chief of Staff Rick Dearborn, policy adviser Steve Miller and top adviser to Vice President-elect Mike Pence, Marc Short, spent roughly two-and-a-half hours discussing tax reform over Italian food.
The meetings’ attendees were vague about the specifics discussed during the gathering, and no other members of congress were in attendance.
“Just going through tax reform, infrastructure, Obamacare – everything,” Ryan told reporters.
Tax reform is expected to pass by August, and the Republican leaders have been recently meeting to hash out details. According to Ryan Communications Director Brendan Buck, similar meetings have been taking place for weeks, with this being the most lengthy on tax reform.
Both Ryan and Trump have been vocal about their calls to reform the tax code. The House GOP’s “A Better Way” blueprint and Trump’s tax proposal largely parallel one another, with a few notable discrepancies.
Bannon told reporters border adjustability is still “a concept they are still working through” as is the concept of transitioning to a territorial tax system.
“That’s also what this meeting’s about, to start working through it, making sure everybody understands it and is on the same page,” he said.
Proponents of a border adjustability tax argue placing a tax on imports could lead to an increase in manufacturing jobs — one of Trump’s top campaign promises. Critics, who support a big border, say their plan makes the United States more competitive by creating an incentive to invest in American companies.
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