Paul Ryan Pivots to Tax Code Rewrite, Welfare Overhaul

Speaker still wants Senate to get health care done but makes no assurances

Posted Jul 19, 2017 11:27 AM
Lindsey McPherson

Amid a Senate Republican impasse over health care, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan is trying to pivot to two other major priorities: rewriting the tax code and overhauling welfare programs.

“Welfare reform and tax reform are the two big things” Republicans need to get done this fall to complete their agenda for the year, as well infrastructure, Ryan told talk radio host Mike Gallagher on Wednesday.

Notably, a welfare overhaul and an infrastructure package were not among the priorities Ryan outlined at the congressional GOP retreat in January when presenting the agenda for the first 200 days. The speaker has previously said both welfare and infrastructure were more likely to be addressed in 2018.

The speeding-up of the timeline to overhaul welfare programs comes as House Republicans are trying to adopt a budget resolution that includes reconciliation instructions for a deficit-neutral tax overhaul and $203 billion in mandatory spending cuts over 10 years, some of which are expected to come from welfare programs.

“One of the reforms that we think that is important that we’re advancing this year, in addition to tax reform, is welfare reform,” Ryan said Wednesday on the Jerry Bader radio show.

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