What Trump Can and Can't Do
Joel D Joseph
Mr Joseph spent three decades on Capitol Hill and is responsible for passage of the Country of Origin Labeling Act and the American Automobile Labeling Act as Chairman of the Made in the USA Foundation.
Donald Trump campaigned on several issues including removing the tax on tips and social security benefits, and on imposing 20 percent across the board tariffs on Chinese imports. Some of these proposals can be passed into law with bipartisan support, while some will be blocked by his own party.
Removing Taxes on Tips and Social Security
There is bipartisan support to remove tax on tips and on social security benefits. In 2023, the U.S. government collected $51 billion in income taxes on Social Security benefits. According to the Internal Revenue Service, employees reported $38 billion in tips in 2018. Because most tipped employees are in the 10 percent income tax bracket, eliminating the tax on tips will only cost the federal government about $3 billion in tax revenue. Most Americans on Social Security need every penny of their benefits to provide for food and shelter. Currently, forty-one states do not tax social security benefits. The federal government should also exempt social security benefits from taxation.
To pay for these tax reductions, we should remove cap on social security and medicare taxes. In 2024, only the first $168,600 in income is subject to this tax. Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and other billionaires only pay social security tax on a very small portion of their income. According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), removing the cap on FICA taxes (Social Security payroll tax) would significantly increase revenue, potentially closing a large portion of Social Security's long-term shortfall. The CBO estimated that removing the cap on social security taxes would raise $2.5 trillion annually in revenue. We can use this revenue to support the social security trust fund and to reduce government debt.
Border Bill
Republican Senator James Lankford drafted a border security law that had bipartisan support. It only failed because Donald Trump wanted it killed so that he could campaign on the border issue. Lankford's bill provides funding to build the wall, increase technology at the border, add more detention beds, more agents, and more deportation flights. The border security bill ends the abuse of parole on our southwest border that has waived in over a million people. It dramatically changes our ambiguous asylum laws by conducting fast screenings at a higher standard of evidence, limited appeals, and fast deportation. (S.1444 - Border Patrol Enhancement Act.) This bill could easily pass Congress now.
Obamacare
In order to repeal or amend Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act, the Senate would need 60 votes. With only 53 Republican Senators, changes to Obamacare are dead in the water. Further, with 20 million plus Americans on Obamacare, it would be suicidal for lawmakers to repeal it.
Massive Tariffs
Many Republicans are opposed to massive across the board tariffs. Because of this, across the board tariffs are unlikely to pass. However, there is bipartisan support for selective tariffs. For example, Trump could impose a large tariff on Chinese-manufactured cars. Democrats and the United Auto Workers would undoubtedly support a targeted tariff on cars coming into this country from Asia.
Non-Tariff Proposals on Trade
A law that would reduce imports without tariffs could pass Congress. One such law would require that all product advertising to mandate country of origin information. Under a proposed Country of Origin Disclosure Act (CODA), all advertising for products would have to include a prominent disclosure of the country of origin. For example, a television ad for the Ford Mustang Mach E electric vehicle would have to state, "made in Mexico."
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