President Donald Trump has come up with a catchy name for the Republican Party’s soon-to-be-unveiled tax plan: The “Cut, Cut, Cut” bill.
The President has been advocating for this nickname in recent days, according to one conservative source who has been in touch with multiple White House officials this week about tax reform. However, aides around the President have been “trying to talk him out of it,” that person added, a clear indication of the discomfort that Trump’s allies feel in casting the GOP legislation as a proposal that primarily consists of tax cuts.
Trump has consistently and openly advocated for significant tax cuts, even as Republicans have struggled to explain how such cuts would be paid for.
The President tweeted Tuesday: “The Republican House members are working hard (and late) toward the Massive Tax Cuts that they know you deserve. These will be biggest ever!”
ABC News first reported Trump wanted to name the bill “Cut, Cut, Cut.”
Asked about the nickname at Wednesday’s White House press briefing, spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said, “If it’s called the ‘Cut, Cut’ bill, great.”
As long as the final proposal “includes massive tax cuts like this President is proposing, I think we’d perfectly be fine with that name,” she added.
Meanwhile, Republican efforts to overhaul the country’s tax code have already encountered setbacks.
This week, House Republicans announced late Tuesday night that they would not release their tax reform plan Wednesday as previously planned, and punted the released by a day so that key lawmakers could continue refining the legislation.
Among the issues that have been contentious include how to offset tax cuts in the proposal. One of the biggest fights has been over whether to repeal the state and local tax deduction — a move opposed by members haling from high-tax states. Doing so could raise more than $1 trillion.
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to correctly identify who first reported Trump wanted to name the bill “Cut, Cut, Cut.” It was ABC News.