The tax reform principals in the executive and legislative branches, known as the "Big 6," have continued their efforts to promote tax reform as Congress is in the midst of a particularly politically charged August recess.
House Ways and Means Committee Chair Kevin Brady, R-Texas, delivered an address on tax reform efforts from the Reagan Ranch in California on Aug. 16, but was overshadowed to some degree by the ongoing controversy in Charlottesville, Va., where a clash between white supremacist groups and counter-protestors that resulted in one death and numerous injuries has dominated headlines for days.
Brady's predecessor at the Ways and Means Committee, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said Aug. 21 that tax reform will procedurally be "far easier" than healthcare reform. Ryan also encouraged the Senate to try once more at repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act.
Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in McConnell's home state of Kentucky on Aug. 21 promoting tax reform. When asked about the treatment of carried interest in a proposed reform effort, Mnuchin acknowledged that the provision is important to a small group of investment funds, but that President Donald Trump is committed to "clos[ing] the loophole for hedge funds and carried interest." Mnuchin's statement, however, does leave open the possibility that carried interest would be eliminated for certain financial investment funds, but perhaps not for other kinds of funds that may benefit from it.
McConnell also added that the reform efforts would get underway after Congress returns after the Labor Day holiday.
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