Report: Moderate House Democrats Oppose Joe Biden’s Potential Infrastructure Tax Hikes

Moderate House Democrats are pushing back against potential tax hikes intended to fund President Joe Biden’s $3 trillion infrastructure package.

Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) have said they will not discuss Biden’s tax proposals until the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction is on the table. The SALT deduction was previously capped under the Trump administration.

“No SALT, no dice,” Gottheimer said. “It’s got to be responsible and both parties need to be at the table. This can’t just be jammed through without input and consideration from the other side.”

“We need to be careful not to do anything that’s too big or too much in the middle of a pandemic and an economic crisis,” Gottheimer concluded.

Suozzi also agreed, “I’m not voting for any changes in the tax code unless we reinstate SALT as part of the deal.”

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in reference to the opposition, “We know there will be a range of views on how we get there, but we look forward to working with a broad coalition of members on the critical priorities of the president’s plan.” She added, “Creating good jobs and making America more competitive — paid for without any tax increase on people making less than $400,000 a year.”

As for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), she pitched possibly raising corporate taxes and capital gains taxes to bankroll Biden’s infrastructure agenda, along with  (D-PA), who proposed on March 1 a two percent tax on assets’ net value for the wealthiest Americans.

Any House-passed tax bills must have Senate approval. But the Senate is struggling to overcome its own Democrat friction, led by Sen. Joe Manchin, whose position already opposes a corporate tax rate of 28 percent.