Trump Must Rally for His Tax Cuts or Risk Losing the Golden Age

House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune are vigorously advocating to ensure that the “big, beautiful bill” lands on President Donald Trump’s desk by April’s end — but they will need him to take a more prominent role to achieve this.

The proposed legislation includes 1) the renewal and extension of the 2017 tax cuts, 2) increasing the federal debt ceiling, 3) enhancing funding for Trump’s priorities like border security, and 4) implementing cuts totaling billions in expenditure over the next decade.

Any single point of this agenda presents significant challenges, particularly with Republicans holding only a slim majority in the House and limited options to bypass the Senate filibuster amidst rising dissatisfaction from Democrats eager to criticize Minority Leader Chuck Schumer for “supporting Trump” when he previously averted a government shutdown.

Add to that the various regulations—affecting the evaluation of tax cuts and spending increases, as well as provisions for reconciliation measures that can sidestep the filibuster—and the already complicated passage of any major bill resembles an intricate design of a Rube Goldberg machine in the legislative process.

Both Thune and Johnson must navigate their distinctly different factions through this labyrinth.

For instance, to keep the House Freedom Caucus aligned, Johnson is considering a strategy that entails significantly more future federal spending cuts than what Thune’s colleagues may favor.

Put that disagreement into the convoluted “pay for” rules that many Republicans don’t genuinely buy into, and the House’s ultraconservatives’ fixation could lead to a diminished overall tax cut, or even an increase in certain tax rates exceeding current laws.

Moreover, the 2017 tax-rate reductions immediately resulted in robust federal revenue growth and unprecedented increases in average wages: Under current rules, merely maintaining these rates counts as raising the federal deficit.

Adjusting the rules to account for existing laws, rather than the theoretical advantages of significant tax hikes, is feasible — but it will necessitate a series of presidential addresses to strengthen the resolve of moderate Republicans against the backlash from Democrats and the disapproval of the Beltway press.

The president will also likely need to articulate to the public that the GOP’s Medicaid “cuts” are primarily focused on eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse, addressing issues prevalent in affluent liberal states like New York and California, and stopping taxpayer-funded health care for those who cross the border illegally.

Trump has demonstrated that he can make a difference, having decisively influenced the passage of key legislation several times this year, but a late-game intervention will not suffice now.

If he fails to mobilize significant effort—communicating through both public speeches and private calls—the initiative could falter at various junctures. (Recall how a frustrated Sen. John McCain derailed Trump’s partial ObamaCare repeal four years ago.)

The president is becoming aware of the steep obstacles ahead: This awareness explains his unfortunate decision to withdraw his nomination of Rep. Elise Stefanik to be his dynamic UN ambassador.

If he devotes his full attention to advancing the bill — since it’s his agenda, after all — success is attainable.

If he neglects this effort, the plan could unravel: Taxes might escalate, he could be cornered into making a distasteful deal to dodge the debt limit, Democrats may feel encouraged to block the remainder of his agenda — leading to an economic downturn ahead of the 2026 midterms.

Start fighting vigorously now, Mr. President, or that Golden Age could slip away.