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Did the 2017 tax cuts really pay for themselves?

Feb 11, 2025
Supporters of an extension to the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act point to revenue collection numbers to say that they did. But those numbers may not tell the whole story.
President Donald Trump speaks after the passage of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Supporters of an extension say it paid for itself, but did it?
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How blue state Republicans could shape Congressional legislation this year

Republicans have a slim majority in the House of Representatives — and those from liberal states could throw their weight around.
New York Rep. Nicole Malliotakis could be among the GOP leaders from a liberal state that could have massive sway in the House of Representatives.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

A look at the economic impact of the 2017 tax cuts

Feb 5, 2025
The Trump administration said the tax cuts would pay for themselves, but according to a study “that's just not true at all."
Donald Trump signing into law the Tax Cut and Reform Bill, a $1.5 trillion tax overhaul package, in December 2017.
Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images

A top agenda item for 119th Congress will be the 2017 Trump tax cuts

Jan 3, 2025
Many provisions of that tax law expire at the end of this year — including the individual tax cuts for most Americans.
Many provisions of Trump's 2017 tax cuts are set to expire at the end of this year.
Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images

Some analysts see inflation lurking in Trump's plans

Dec 17, 2024
Tax cuts, tariffs and mass deportations could put upward pressure on prices — and interest rates.
Bond yields could keep rising in 2025 because of Trump's plans for tax cuts and additional tariffs. But can bond yields be too high?
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Kamala Harris outlines economic priorities on the last night of the DNC

Among economic themes, Vice President Kamala Harris highlighted the need to protect Social Security and Medicare, and a tax cut for middle-income households.
Alex Wong/Getty Images

Fact-checking the economic claims in Donald Trump’s convention speech

Alan Rappeport, economic policy reporter at The New York Times, examines the former president's assertions about inflation, taxes and energy.
Alex Wong/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Tax breaks are popular. They also cost the federal government more than $1 trillion a year.

May 24, 2024
In the debate over the debt and deficit, experts say tax breaks that skew toward the wealthy deserve as close a look as government spending.
“The IRS has basically been turned into not just a revenue-collection agency, but also basically a welfare agency having to give people goodies and tax breaks for all sorts of different things that they do," economist Gerald Prante says.
Michael Bocchieri/Getty Images

How corporate lobbying changed the 2017 tax overhaul

Jan 3, 2020
Corporate lobbyists won big under the Treasury Department's rules and regulations to implement the bill.
President Donald Trump and Secretary of Treasury Steven Mnuchin in 2017.
Pool/Getty Images

The budget deficit last topped $1 trillion in 2012, a very different time

Sep 13, 2019
Back then, the economy was struggling its way out of recession. Now? Not so much.
The U.S. Treasury Department announced Thursday the government deficit has topped $1 trillion for the first time in seven years. Above, the Treasury Department building in Washington, D.C.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images