Congress has officially left Washington D.C. for August recess but that doesn't mean lawmakers on Capitol Hill got enough done before skipping town.
Obamacare repeal and replace is the big one, although the House did follow through with a bill in July before the Senate version died last week. On top of healthcare reform, the debt ceiling, the budget and tax reform are still looming and will need extra attention when Republicans get back in September.
According to the Senate and House calendars, there are only 12 working legislative days left until the end of the year, putting Republicans under pressure to get things done.
Before leaving for recess, Speaker Paul Ryan, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn released a joint statement outlining specific goals an objectives on tax reform, indicating a focused effort in coming months.
“For the first time in many years, the American people have elected a President and Congress that are fully committed to ensuring that ordinary Americans keep more of their hard-earned money and that our tax policies encourage employers to invest, hire, and grow. And under the leadership of President Trump, the White House and Treasury have met with over 200 members of the House and Senate and hundreds of grassroots and business groups to talk and listen to ideas about tax reform," the statement said. “We are all united in the belief that the single most important action we can take to grow our economy and help the middle class get ahead is to fix our broken tax code for families, small business, and American job creators competing at home and around the globe. Our shared commitment to fixing America’s broken tax code represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity, and so for three months we have been meeting regularly to develop a shared template for tax reform."
During a rally in West Virginia Thursday night, President Trump slammed Republicans for failing to repeal Obamacare and called on them to reform the tax code.
