Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday that July 4 is the new deadline for lawmakers to pass President Trump’s ambitious tax agenda.
Bessent and Kevin Hassett, the director of the National Economic Council, met on Capitol Hill Monday with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and top tax writers.
Congress returned to Washington on Monday to kick off a key stretch to get the package, which includes broad swaths of Trump’s agenda, passed. Republicans aim to pass it with only GOP votes but must first work out significant disagreements.
Bessent on Monday hailed the unity among all factions before laying out the new target date.
“The House is moving things along quickly, and the Senate is in lockstep. We think that they are in substantial agreement,” Bessent said. “We hope we can have this tax portion done by the Fourth of July.”
Trump and Republicans are set to include a potpourri of party tax goals in the single package, including potentially making the tax cuts passed in 2017 permanent and eliminating taxes on tips, overtime and Social Security. Republicans also expect the bill to contain immigration reform, Pentagon funding, an increase in the debt ceiling and steep spending cuts.
Lawmakers had initially wanted to deliver the package by Memorial Day, and Johnson says he still intends to get the measure through the House by then. But many Senate Republicans view it as a lofty and unrealistic goal.
The announcement of the July 4 goal for the bill comes just days ahead of when the Treasury Department is expected to release an updated projection of when the U.S. will exhaust its ability to pay the national debt, known as the X date.
The deadline revelation also comes only days before lawmakers expect to find out more information from the Treasury Department about the expected debt ceiling X date.
The X date is widely viewed as the true deadline to pass the tax agenda because it is also expected to contain at least a $4 trillion increase in the debt ceiling.
That date is expected in the summertime, but it could complicate the GOP’s plans if it is bumped up closer to July 4.
“We don’t have a new X date yet,” Bessent said, pointing to the continued gathering of taxes in April, but he added that revenues are up this year. “We may have a better calculation toward the end of the week or next week.”
Bessent also made clear that even if the X date is set for before July 4, the debt ceiling will be raised one way or another.
“The U.S. will never miss the X date,” Bessent said.
