“We Need to Deliver Real Tax Relief”: Hawley’s Child Tax Credit Proposal Gets Bipartisan Support
(trump.com)
A firebrand Republican senator and MAGA ally has introduced a bold proposal that has already earned support from at least one Democratic lawmaker. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) is advocating for a significant increase in child tax credit in the next Congress.
On Monday, Hawley told Axios he supports raising the credit from its current maximum of $2,000 to $5,000 per child. “These are the people – working class, people with families – who elected Donald Trump, and we need to deliver real and meaningful tax relief to them,” Hawley said in an interview with Axios.
Hawley noted that he has already spoken with President-elect Donald Trump and his team about the proposal. He credited Vice President-elect JD Vance with inspiring the specific $5,000 figure. The plan has received rare bipartisan praise, with Sen.-elect Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) publicly supporting Hawley’s proposal.
“I’ve long said we need to do everything we can to support families,” Gallego wrote on X, sharing a link to Hawley’s interview. “Increasing the child tax credit puts more money in the pockets of Arizonans. Let’s do it.”
However, the ambitious proposal comes with a hefty price tag. Axios reports that the plan would cost between $2 trillion and $3 trillion over the next 10 years. The price complicates matters for incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), who face slim margins as they seek to extend President-elect Trump’s signature tax legislation, told CNBC.
Only three Republican senators, including Hawley, voted earlier this year to expand the child tax credit as part of a bipartisan tax package. That effort ultimately failed, but Hawley’s renewed push signals a determination to revisit the issue with the incoming administration.
Hawley’s proposal highlights an emerging focus on family-centered policies within the Republican Party, a strategy aimed at appealing to working-class voters who played a crucial role in Trump’s electoral victories. Meanwhile, Gallego’s support underscores the growing bipartisan recognition of the economic challenges facing American families.
While the plan faces hurdles, its early cross-party endorsement suggests that boosting the child tax credit may be a rare area of agreement in an otherwise divided Congress. As discussions continue, all eyes will be on the financial implications and the political will to deliver on this ambitious proposal.
