‘Reasonable’ Economic Growth
To advance the Senate budget, Corker agreed last month to allow language permitting a $1.5 trillion tax cut over 10 years when analyzed without economic growth effects.
Corker said at Wednesday’s Budget Committee meeting that in the future tax-cut bill he won’t support reductions that add to the deficit after accounting for "reasonable" economic growth. He also said he’ll insist on a permanent tax bill. "We don’t want a 10-year tax policy," he said.
"Let’s let the debate unfold," said Corker, who announced Sept. 26 that he won’t seek re-election next year. "I care deeply about deficits in this country. That is going to be one of the major thresholds from which I judge anything."
The House budget resolution calls for tax code changes that don’t add to the national debt. Given that the process is being driven by Senate rules to avoid a Democratic filibuster, a final joint House-Senate budget later this month is likely to adopt the Senate revenue-losing approach.
Thune said the official Joint Committee on Taxation analysis of a tax plan’s economic effects will be used for the purposes of satisfying Senate rules, but there will be "a lot of different numbers used" to understand the impact of the legislation.
"There’ll be plenty of scoring to use, to look at — models to help decide what we think is going to happen," Thune said.
Spending Bill
Even before getting to a tax bill, Congress must resolve budget conflicts over spending caps. An agreement will be needed for Congress to pass a spending bill and avoid a federal government shutdown after Dec. 8.
The House budget would allow $73 billion more in regular defense spending and $10 billion more in war funding than the Senate plan. The House would cut non-defense agencies by $5 billion, while the Senate budget wouldn’t make cuts. Once Republicans work out those differences, they then must negotiate with Democrats to avoid a shutdown because Democrats have the ability to block spending bills.