WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump on Monday repeated his unsubstantiated claim that Republicans plan to unveil a middle class tax cut before the midterm elections a little over two weeks away.
"We're putting in a resolution some time in the next week and a half to two weeks [and] we're giving a middle income tax reduction of about 10 percent," Trump told reporters at the White House. "This is not for business, this is for middle income, and that's on top of the tax decrease that we've already given them."
Congress is in recess until after the election, but Trump dismissed the idea that he would try to use an executive order. "No, I'm going through Congress. We won't have time to do the vote. We'll do the vote after the election," he said.
But congressional leaders and White House officials who have spoken to several news outlets in recent days have all said they know nothing about any plans for a tax cut before the midterm election. This is not least because neither chamber of Congress plans to return to Washington until after the election.
As of Monday, it was also unclear as to what type of resolution Trump was talking about. A spokeswoman for House Speaker Paul Ryan referred questions from CNBC back to the White House. But a White House spokeswoman did not immediately respond to these or any other questions.
Trump's comments failed to register in financial markets Monday, perhaps reflecting skepticism that his talk of a tax cut is merely a campaign gimmick, designed to boost support for Republican candidates by effectively promising that voters will be rewarded with a tax cut if they vote for the GOP.
Republicans are fighting to maintain control of the House of Representatives, and scores of individual races are extremely close with only two weeks to go before Election Day. Political analysts expect the GOP to lose seats in the House, but keep its thin majority in the Senate.
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