GOP Unity Key to Passing Tax Reform | Hugh Hewitt with Rep. Jason Smith

Thanks for listening to the Town Hall Review with Hugh Hewitt podcast, bringing to you the best voices on the stories and issues that matter. Here's another piece I'll trust you enjoy. Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Congressman Jason Smith of Missouri. Congressman, are you in Missouri or are you back in D.C.? I am in Missouri and pretty glad to be home.

That's what I always hear from Missourians. Keep your eye open for Tim Garrison. He's a buddy of mine. You probably know Tim. Tim's a great guy. Very good man. Wonderful, wonderful guy. Look, Congressman, I had breakfast this morning with a mortgage banker, and he told me...

The economy is not going to settle and grow until we get the tax bill straightened out. I agree. So when do we get the tax bill? You know, I totally agree, Hugh. This is why you and I, the last time we were talking, we were talking about... how we needed to pass the tax cuts first, how we needed one big, beautiful bill. That's why I've been pushing it. It's because America needs certainty. You're looking at 27 million small businesses that...

that they're making decisions for next year, and they don't know if their tax rate is going to be 43.4% or 23 to 28%. We have to provide that certainty, and that's in fact what we'll do. I'm thankful. that the House and the Senate have passed the budget resolution. That is just part of the process. And now the real bill comes. And so you'll see the 11 different committees.

in the House of Representatives, start marking up over the next couple weeks different portions of this big, beautiful bill, and we'll get it done. We'll get it done fairly soon. I'm happy with the progress that we've been moving.

So far. A couple of specific questions, Congressman. Where do you expect the debate on the salt state and local tax deduction to settle? You know, so that's always been one of the key sticking points that and. A lot of the IRA green credits are things that have a lot of conversations. We've been pulling all kinds of numbers from the individual congressional districts. of our members in California, New York, New Jersey, and trying to figure out

What is that right spot? And we've been going back and forth with a lot of different ideas and numbers. That number is not agreed to yet, but we're getting pretty close. All right. Now, Congressman, I've also been persuaded. that you can close the revenue gap not by raising taxes on the highest earners. That's kind of not a Republican deal. But by opening a conversion window on Roth IRAs for...

traditional Irish and 401k plans, let them move over for a tax of 15 or 20% flat tax one time. Do you have a plan on closing that revenue gap with the Senate? You know, we've been working on this aggressively. The House Ways and Means Republicans, we put in more than 50 hours in the last six weeks trying to craft this bill and looking at every provision.

within the tax code of, like, how could it be enhanced? Is this a provision that we don't need, whether it's an IRA credit, whether it's looking at... I'll just say it, looking at endowment tax on universities. We're looking at all kinds of things to close that area that we need. We have to make permanent Trump's expiring 2017 tax cuts.

We have to deliver on the president's promises when it comes to no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, tax relief for seniors, tax incentive for products produced in the United States. And these are all things that we're working for, and they're going to have to be paid for. And so we've been looking at all different options. This is one that has been discussed along with numerous others.

attracts me only because I think people ought to be able to use their money without government oversight and mandatory withdrawals and all that kind of stuff. Is there a voice on the committee for converting everyone to Roth IRAs and getting a flat tax done?

There has definitely been members on the committee that has brought up exactly what you've been pushing. Even the Speaker of the House has brought this up to me himself. So it has been part of... the conversations, the issue that we have with any tax provision, I'm not talking about this tax provision, I'm just talking about all of the tax provisions as a whole, is trying to thread that needle.

We can only lose three people at the most in order to pass this bill and trying to keep the Republicans together. They've done a good job so far with the budget resolution, with the spending bill. We have to keep them together on this package. So I'm just really trying to thread that needle.

Failure is not an option. Yeah, I don't envy you that. But I also don't think there's a single member who's going to find their constituents or against a conversion window. Let me turn to that top income tax bracket. I personally would not object. I don't care. if they add a bracket for people making seven figures or more or even higher. But I know that a lot of people do because it's sort of contra the flat tax approach of the GOP since Reagan.

Where are you on that, Mr. Chairman? So I haven't taken a position either way, much like every position. I've just been, I guess you could say, Switzerland, trying to... make sure that I can pull all the forces of this conference and in the Senate together along with the White House. There are members that have been discussing this provision, much like others. I want to deliver a...

pro-growth, pro-worker, pro-family, pro-small business, pro-farmer tax bill. And the way that you do that with Republicans is making sure all Americans are paying less. You know, Mr. Chairman, you used the word Switzerland throughout Republican primaries dating back to 2008. I said, I'm Switzerland. Everybody's welcome here. No one's going to get gotcha questions. And it works.

Does it work for Chairman of Ways and Means? There's got to be people who don't want Switzerland. They want you on their team. They all want me on the team at the finish line. That's what they want. Throughout this process of making the sausage, it's going to be bouncy. But the whole key for success in passing this bill is keeping the Republican conference all together.

to pass this bill with 218 votes and then, of course, making it go through the Senate on the president's desk. And so I don't know what it's going to take in the end to get the final numbers to pass. But you betcha, Hugh, I'm going to do whatever it takes to get there. A couple of process questions. How often do you talk to the president? How often do you talk to Russ Vogt, who runs OMV and is maybe the equal of anyone when it comes to smarts over in the White House complex?

You know, I talk to the president very, very regularly, either by phone or by text. He is an aggressive texter at times. There's times that I'll wake up at 5.30 in the morning and get a text message from the president at 2.30 on a tax or trade issue. And I feel I feel really bad that he knows I was sleeping. But he he's working around the clock all the time. And I'll tell you, when he has a tax question.

or a trade question or something he wants to talk about within my space, he has no problem picking up the phone and calling directly. And Russ? Russ, I do talk to Russ periodically, not as much as I do the president. So most of my conversations are within my committee's jurisdiction. So Secretary Besant, also Secretary Lutnik, and of course, Ambassador Jameson with all the trade that's going on.

So last question, when the Senate got done with their version, they had plussed up defense $50 billion more than the House. Is that sticking? You said $50 billion more in the House. Was that $150 billion? Yeah. Is that the total? That's it. I am very confident that the House and Senate, when it comes to the defense spending, and the White House are all on the same page. I don't want to share those numbers. I'll let Mike Rogers share those numbers whenever...

They're there, but I'm confident the House and Senate will be on the same page. And will Doug Bergen be happy? Because Doug Bergen wants to dig everywhere, sell everything, drill everywhere. I'm with him, by the way. I'm 100% with him. We have an asset sheet that we've never calculated and that we've got to... put to work is he going to be happy with the final product you know this is exactly why we were pushing the one big beautiful bill because we want spending cuts

We want permanency of all these tax provisions and all the items that the president asked for. We want to unleash U.S. energy. to make sure that we are energy dominant. We want to reduce crazy regulations, and we want to secure the border. Those are all things that will be in this bill. It's going to be, as the president says, one big, beautiful bill that will deliver for...

All of America. Well, we've been on the same page from the beginning, so I'll close with this. Outside date. When do we see a bill emerge from Congress for the president? Outside date. So, my hope... And my goal, Hugh, of course, I wanted this done by Memorial Day, but it took a little bit longer in the Senate to pass the budget resolution. I think it was six weeks they had it over there. I really believe, Hugh, that we can get this on the president's desk by 4th of July.

All right. If that happens, that will be enough time to save the Congress in 2026. If you get it done by Independence Day. So, Congressman, Mr. Chairman, Representative Jason Smith of Missouri. Thank you. Back to work. Back to the salt mines and answer those texts in the middle of the night. I don't know. Thank you very much. Don't go anywhere, America. I love talking to the chairman because he answers my questions and he tells me, yeah, that's good.

Not Memorial Day. I'm not going to get my hopes up. July 4, going to be Independence Day from the threat of the biggest tax hike in the history of America happening on January 1, 2026. Thanks for listening to the Town Hall Review. If you enjoy your podcast, take a moment, tell a friend to subscribe today. Send them to our website, townhallreview.com. I'm Hugh Hewitt. Thank you for joining us.