Thune: ‘Failure is not an option’ on tax policy

Incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he’s eyeing a sweeping tax policy package by summer, but conceded it will take some time to reach agreement on changes to the complex code.

“It’s going to take a while to put that big package together because there are so many moving parts,” Thune said on “The Hugh Hewitt Show.”

“My goal is to have this done by summer. I think that big tax piece is just going to take a while,” he continued.

But the South Dakota Republican was quick to add: “Failure is not an option as far as tax is concerned."

Among the complex issues for the tax bill, according to Thune: what baseline to use, whether to make the cuts permanent and how much of them should be offset.

While those negotiations on complex tax policy continue, Thune said he’s eyeing a “big early win” for President-elect Donald Trump with a party-line push on border security, military and energy provisions.

Thune indicated he did not favor inserting consensus tax provisions in the first package.

“I think they’re all going to have to ride together,” he said of tax policy, noting the complexity of the nation’s code. “Don’t rush them, make sure we get it right.”

Both bills would rely on a party-line process, known in official Washington parlance as reconciliation, to allow them to pass with a simple majority of Republicans.

Thune indicated the second package would be a natural spot to implement government savings recommendations developed by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy through their so-called Department of Government Efficiency.

Thune’s two-track approach is at odds with that favored by House Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.), who favors a single reconciliation package.

“If we don’t hit out the gates running, we’re going to be in trouble,” Smith said Tuesday on Fox Business. “House Republicans are ready to pass the president’s economic package. We’ve been working on this since April with the hopes that we’d have a unified Republican government.”