Marc Short among leaders of GOP campaign against Biden’s tax increases: reports

The chief of staff to former Vice President Mike Pence is among the Republicans forming a campaign against President Biden’s plans to increase taxes to fund his infrastructure package, news outlets reported on Tuesday. 

Marc Short, a former top aide to Pence, will reportedly help lead the Coalition to Protect American Workers, a GOP group that intends to spend at least $25 million within a month on a campaign against the president’s tax plans, including television and digital advertisements.

Axios first reported the newly formed group’s plans for spending followed by Bloomberg News, with both outlets citing a person familiar with the matter. 

The coalition plans to take aim at members of Congress who will consider supporting Biden’s $3 trillion infrastructure agenda, including moderate Democrats, vulnerable Democrats and potentially Republicans who don’t speak out against the tax plan.

The president’s proposal for infrastructure, clean energy and social initiatives would lead to the highest set of tax increases since 1993, Bloomberg noted. 

Biden aims to reinstate a 28 percent corporate tax that dropped to 21 percent under former President Trump, as well as boost the top personal income taxes rate to 39.6 percent for those making $400,000 or more.

In a statement obtained by Bloomberg, Short praised Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, saying they contributed to the creation of millions of jobs, and criticized Biden’s proposal saying “Democrats now want to pass job-killing tax increases that will stifle our economy as the country is finally emerging from a pandemic.”

The Coalition to Protect American Workers is reportedly made up of several individuals who formed Trade Works for America, which campaigned in support of Trump’s U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement.

White House officials have said Biden is eyeing a summer approval for his infrastructure package, which he plans to unveil portions of on Wednesday.