Biden said Trump-enacted tax cuts “are going to stay expired and dead forever if I’m re-elected.”

In a House Ways and Means Committee hearing with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen today, she was asked about statements by President Biden vowing to end the Trump tax cuts if elected to a second term. The Biden vow means Americans of all income levels would end up paying higher taxes under Biden’s watch, a blatant violation of the Biden pledge to ensure that every American making less than $400,000 a year does not see a single penny of tax increase.

So today congressman Ron Estes (R-Kan.) asked Secretary Yellen to respond to Biden’s April 23 tweet on the matter.

Biden’s tweet stated, “This tax cut is going to expire. If I am reelected its going to stay expired.“

The fate of the TCJA is the number one tax policy issue now and through the next two years. And yet incredibly, Yellen claimed she hadn’t seen the Biden statement.

Here’s the Estes-Yellen exchange:

ESTES: Basically what that means is that there’s going to be a 25 percent increase in the tax rate on people who make less than $44,000. There’s going to be an additional $14,000 tax increase on people making less than $95,000. Additionally, there would be increases on others up until making the $400,000. So if this tweet is right, that came from President Biden, he is going to increase taxes on people making less than $400,000.

YELLEN: President Biden has repeatedly issued a set of principles that will guide his negotiations and he has repeatedly said –

ESTES: I can send you the tweet.

YELLEN: He will not support increases on families making under $400,000 and I haven’t looked at the tweet myself but that is not what he -.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act successfully reduced taxes for all income groups. In contrast to the tax-hiking Biden, former President Donald Trump has made clear he will make TCJA permanent and then cut taxes more.

Biden’s let-TCJA-die tweet was no accident: He also said it verbally, loudly.

Last week Biden said:

“By the way that tax cut of his expires in the next year. Well let me tell you something: It’s going to stay expired and dead forever if I’m re-elected.”

The Biden statement runs counter to his supposed $400,000 tax pledge.

“I give you my word as a Biden,” Biden has said repeatedly in describing his [cough] commitment to his tax pledge. “That’s a guarantee,” said Biden.

But even President Biden’s own administration recently admitted that TCJA cut taxes for all income groups, including those making less than $400,000.

Yellen had the following exchange with Senate Finance Committee ranking member Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) on March 31, 2024:

CRAPO: “Are you aware that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act which Republicans passed in 2017 reduced the taxes for Americans of all income groups including those earning less than $400,000 per year?”

YELLEN: “Yes.”

Even left-leaning media outlets have noted that TCJA cut taxes for most Americans:

CNN’s Jake Tapper: “The facts are, most Americans got a tax cut.” 

New York Times: “Most people got a tax cut.”

Washington Post: “Most Americans received a tax cut.”

FactCheck.org: “Most people got some kind of tax cut.”

H&R Block: “The vast majority of people did get a tax cut.”

If Biden is re-elected and follows through on his threat to “end” the Trump tax cuts, here are some of the tax increases that would hit Americans:

  • Across the board income tax hikes.
  • Large part of child tax credit taken away.
  • Small and mid-sized business tax increase.
  • The Death Tax would ensnare more families and businesses.
  • Standard deduction nearly cut in half, forcing paperwork complexity on millions of households who will have to itemize their deductions.

Biden is excited to raise taxes on the American people. His 2025 budget calls for $5 trillion in tax hikes over a decade. He has called for a higher corporate tax rate than communist China and the highest top capital gains tax rate in over 100 years.

To learn more about Biden’s many tax increases, visit ATR.org/HighTaxJoe