Steve Scalise previews tax cuts and other priorities for Trump’s first 100 days – Washington Examiner

Asher NotheisNovember 8, 2024

In an interview, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise emphasized the Republican Party’s agenda for the initial days of President-elect Donald Trump’s ‌second term. He highlighted the party’s expectation to maintain control‍ of both the Senate and House of Representatives, discussing plans to renew tax cuts from Trump’s ‌first term using budget reconciliation. Scalise‍ outlined ‌the goal of⁤ preventing tax increases for families and emphasized the importance of increasing American energy production to lower costs ⁣for consumers and reduce reliance on ‌foreign nations.⁤ He also⁣ criticized existing regulations, suggesting they harm the U.S. and benefit other countries. Looking ahead to the 2024 elections, Scalise projected ‌that ⁢Republicans could secure approximately 221-223 House seats, acknowledging the challenges faced in recent close races but optimistic about potential gains ‌in places like Alaska.

Steve Scalise previews tax cuts and other priorities for Trump’s first 100 days

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) argued there are several policies House Republicans want to enact early next year, which he stated can happen once President-elect Donald Trump is back in the White House.

Scalise explained that it is looking more likely the Republican Party will gain control of the Senate and keep its majority in the House of Representatives and that he has already spoken to Trump about what can be achieved within the first 100 days of his second presidency. He explained that Republicans have a process called “budget reconciliation” and that one of the priorities is renewing Trump’s tax cuts from his first term.

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“Many of those which expire that we passed in 2017, we want to renew those cuts so that families don’t see a tax increase, and President Trump on the campaign trail talked about some other things he wants to include there,” Scalise said on Fox News’s Fox & Friends. “We can include more American energy production. You know, you want to talk, Lawrence, about getting our economy back on track, let’s open up more American energy that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris shut down. The ability to produce more energy in our country, it will lower costs for things like gasoline and food for families who are struggling, and it really takes leverage away from countries like Russia, like Iran, like Venezuela. So geopolitically, it has a lot of benefits too.”

Scalise also previewed how the Trump administration will work with billionaire and X owner Elon Musk to cut rules and regulations to save money, such as getting rid of “stupid things like banning gas stoves and banning combustion engines.” He contended that these kinds of regulations have only harmed the United States and have, in turn, aided other countries such as China.

Regarding the 2024 elections, Scalise predicted the Republicans will end the election season with around 221-223 seats in the House. He added that it “still hurts” how the party lost some close races in New York, but he added there are seats that the party can flip, including in Alaska.

One “major victory” in Congress that Republicans can take, Scalise noted, was flipping the Pennsylvania Senate seat occupied by incumbent Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA). Republican Sen.-elect Dave McCormick had a 0.5-percentage-point lead over Casey, a three-term senator, when Associated Press called the race around 4 p.m. on Thursday.

Following Trump’s victory in the presidential election, Scalise called to “immediately terminate the politically motivated prosecutions” against the president-elect, who was facing a myriad of legal battles while campaigning for president and is set to be sentenced for 34 counts of falsifying business records on Nov. 26. Scalise’s call comes after a report said that special counsel Jack Smith is planning to end both of his federal criminal cases now that Trump has won the 2024 election.