After blasting Republican colleagues for years over their blockade of President Obama’s agenda, Democrats are gearing up for their turn as the opposition party planning to throw up early roadblocks for President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks and proposals.
With the new Congress set to convene Jan. 3 and Trump set for his inauguration on Jan. 20 House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi last week issued a call to action to her rank and file to fight Republican efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, or Obama Care, one of Republicans’ top agenda priorities for 2017.
Pelosi is planning to intensify the “drumbeat” in the week before the inauguration, setting Jan. 14 as a “national day of action with events across the country.”
The Democrats’ bid to fend off Republican attacks on Obama’s signature domestic policy achievement is no surprise. But the resistance extends well beyond fortifying their ObamaCare defenses.
Bloomberg reports that Democrats are preparing for a separate fight with Republicans over plans to overhaul the tax code.
“There’s going to be opposition if these tax cuts are directed to the people at the top again,” Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., the next top Democrat on the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, told Bloomberg. “We’re going to be pretty united.”
While Democrats have not put forward their own plan, House Republicans and Trump both have outlined overhauls. Both would reduce the number of tax brackets from seven to three, including reducing the top rate for individuals from 39.6 percent to 33 percent. The gist of the plans is to lower tax rates for most people, and make up lost revenue by scaling back exemptions, deductions and credits. Senate Democrats, meanwhile, are signaling a potentially rocky road ahead for some of Trump’s Cabinet picks, last week demanding extensive financial information on some of his wealthy candidates.