Ivanka Trump Finally Got A Win WIth Her Child Tax Credit Plan
The new Senate tax bill was made public on Tuesday, Nov. 15, and one of its revisions is a major victory for Ivanka Trump. The president's daughter and close adviser has been advocating and campaigning for an increase in the child tax credit for months, and she finally won over the Senate. So, what is Ivanka's child tax credit plan and what will it actually do as part of the new tax bill?
As part of the new bill, the child tax credit will be raised to $2,000 per child — it's currently at $1,000 — as Trump has been pushing for more support of families and childcare. For months, Trump has been meeting with conservatives and lawmakers on the Hill to form a coalition that supports this cause, according to Politico. She joined forces with Senators Marco Rubio and Mike Lee. Rubio and Lee have been pushing for higher child tax credit as part of tax reform for at least two years. Although Trump has been mainly gathering support among Republicans, the child tax credit has historically gained support from both Republicans and Democrats. For instance, former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush both worked to expand it during their time in office.
"Tax reform was last overhauled in a comprehensive way more than three decades ago, when our workforce looked very different and our families looked very different," Trump said while speaking at an event in New Jersey on Monday, Nov. 13. "We need a tax code that reflects the modern reality."
Rubio and Senator Dean Heller both tweeted about the tax cut victory, calling it "good news" and thanking Ivanka Trump for her "leadership" on it.
Despite her success with the Senate bill, the House Republican tax plan that was made public on Thursday, Nov. 2 did not increase the child tax credit as much as Trump had hoped — she had wanted a higher number than $2,000. Some critics have even referred to Trump's proposal as a "pet project," to which she told the Associated Press in response, "I get a little bit frustrated when people call it a pet project. This is a major project, this is not a pet project. This is a major initiative to ensure that there is meaningful middle-income tax relief for the American taxpayer."
Trump has spent these past few months campaigning on her own for child tax credit, as well as accompanying her father as he advocates for overall tax reform. While campaigning in August 2017, President Donald Trump helped support his daughter's ventures, saying her tax credit plan "includes helping parents afford childcare and the cost of raising a family. That's so important to Ivanka Trump."
Even before her father was elected, Trump had been making pro-family issues, such as paid family leave and support for working mothers, a central part of her intended legacy. During a speech at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in 2016, Trump said, "As a mother myself, of three young children, I know how hard it is to work while raising a family. And I also know that I'm far more fortunate than most. American families need relief. Policies that allow women with children to thrive should not be novelties, they should be the norm."
Technically, this is a win for Trump, who has been pushing this agenda for so long. There is a catch, however, with this new child tax credit. The Senate bill dictates it will be a temporary provision that will expire in 2025 along with other tax provisions for individuals. The corporate tax rate of 20 percent will, however, be permanent under both the Senate and House tax legislation.
The implications of this new tax bill, as well as the expansion of child tax credit, will only be revealed with time, but if we've learned anything about the president's daughter, it's that she can be a strong player in the game of politics, and this legislative victory reflects that.
