Mnuchin promises tax reform by August

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Wednesday he remains committed to pushing through comprehensive tax reform this summer, a tall order as Congress faces a daunting legislative agenda.

A day after President Trump’s joint address to Congress, Mnuchin said again that he believes tax legislation will be signed by August even as Republican leaders on Capitol Hill line up a robust agenda that includes an overhaul of ObamaCare and the Dodd-Frank financial reform law as well as a massive infrastructure plan.

“Our objective is to pass tax reform” and have it “signed” by the August recess, Mnuchin told Fox Business Network’s Neil Cavuto. 

{mosads}Mnuchin added that the plan will be coming out in the near future. “That’s a very aggressive timetable that we are restricting something that the president and I are very committed to doing,” he said.

But the top priority for the Trump administration is reworking ObamaCare, and Republicans are without a concrete plan to tackle changes to the complex healthcare law. 

Congress and the White House will face significant challenges trying to complete the bulk of its campaign-promised agenda in a short five months.

“These are complicated issues and we’re working through these complex issues, and we’re going to get it done,” Mnuchin said. “And, we’re working closely with Congress to get it done,” he said.

“I think that ObamaCare will get done first and I think tax, we’re working very closely with the House and the Senate and coming up with a combined plan.”

He said that it’s still “too early to tell” whether the tax cuts will be retroactive to the beginning of the year.

“Those are the types of details we’ll work through as we get to drafting,” he said.