- McConnell said the Republican Party removed the payroll tax cut as a stimulus check brought more benefits for unemployed people.
- “I think we are much better off just sending another direct cash payment to those who have been left out of all this,” McConnell told WKYT’s “Kentucky Newsmakers with Bill Bryant.”
- Democrats and many Republicans opposed cutting payroll taxes, a key priority for President Trump.
- A payroll tax cut increases wages over time on paychecks, while a direct payment delivers a sum of money up front.
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Senate Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in an interview published Friday night that part of the reason why the payroll tax cut promoted by President Donald Trump would not be included in the proposed relief of the Republican Party coronavirus was its lack of benefits for unemployed people compared to second stimulus check.
“I think we are much better off just sending another direct cash payment to those who have been left out of all this,” McConnell told WKYT’s “Kentucky Newsmakers with Bill Bryant.”
He continued: “It is the fastest and easiest way to get relief,” and said there was “bipartisan opposition” to the payroll tax cut.
McConnell’s comments highlight the unpopularity of the payroll tax cut in Congress. Republicans in Congress rejected the tax exemption earlier this week during negotiations with the White House over a $ 1 trillion coronavirus relief bill, The Washington Post reported Thursday. Trump had previously insisted on including it in the legislation, saying it would put more money in workers’ pockets and boost the economy.
But the president met unconditional resistance from other Republican senators.
Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, said Monday that a stimulus check “would do more financially good” than the payroll tax cut Trump had sought since the pandemic broke out in March.
Trump attacked Democrats for opposing the tax cut in a tweet on Thursday, even though it was lawmakers from his own party who finally crushed him.
Economists and many lawmakers on both sides say that reducing the amount of taxes deducted from paychecks for people employed to finance Social Security and Medicare would offer no significant benefit to the estimated 20 million unemployed Americans. Cutting the payroll tax increases wages over time on paychecks for people with jobs they may not notice, while a stimulus check delivers a considerable sum of money upfront that is more likely to generate expenses.
The Republican Party says it will unveil its legislation early next week after days of delay due to internal strife. McConnell on Monday said he would include a new round of stimulus checks for Americans, likely modeling on the first.
In March, Congress authorized a wave of direct payments of $ 1,200 for individuals earning up to $ 75,000 a year, plus $ 500 for each dependent child. The cash amount decreased until phase out for those earning more than $ 99,000. Married couples earning up to $ 150,000 a year also qualified for full payment.
