WASHINGTON — Ohio Sen. JD Vance, the Republican nominee for vice president, may not be fond of “childless cat ladies,” but he’s almost certain to skip a vote this week on legislation to expand the child tax credit.
The Senate is scheduled to take a procedural vote Thursday on a House-passed bill that would expand the credit for low-income families and revive a trio of business tax breaks, including a full, upfront deduction for research and development costs.
But Vance is scheduled to be about 2,000 miles away, on a campaign visit Thursday morning to the U.S. southern border in Cochise County, Ariz., to attack the Biden administration’s border policies.
In scheduling a cloture vote on the motion to proceed to the tax bill, Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., acknowledged the move was designed as much to force Republicans to take an election-year stand on the child tax credit as to make any serious headway on enacting a law.
The Senate is scheduled to recess until Sept. 9 after the last votes of the week, likely on Thursday, so there was never much of a chance for a full debate on the tax bill until after Labor Day anyway.
“Putting senators on record is one way progress is made on important issues,” Schumer said on the floor Tuesday. “The American people need tax relief. The big question right now is will Republicans join us … or stand in the way?”
And Schumer took aim at one Republican in particular — Vance — for claiming in a Fox News interview that Vice President Kamala Harris, the expected Democratic presidential nominee, favors “an end to the child tax credit.”
“This is plain old nonsense,” Schumer said. “Democrats do not oppose the child tax credit whatsoever. On the contrary, we strongly support it. We authored it and put it together back in 2021,” when Democrats passed a pandemic relief package that expanded the credit.
The Fox interview came after Vance sought to defend he comments he made in 2021, when he advocated higher tax rates for Americans who don’t have children.
“If you are making $100,000, $400,000 a year and you’ve got three kids, you should pay a different, lower tax rate than if you are making the same amount of money and you don’t have any kids. It’s that simple,” Vance said at the time on the Charlie Kirk Show podcast, according to an ABC News report.
That interview came after Vance complained in a 2021 interview to Tucker Carlson that the government is run by Democrats who are often “a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too.”
‘Weird, bizarre stuff’
Democrats have been eager to use that line against Vance — and Republicans generally — as they seek to extend and expand a child tax benefit that they credit for dramatically curbing childhood poverty.
“There’s a lot of weird, bizarre stuff going around,” Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said of Vance’s “cat ladies” comment. “Everybody’s gonna find out on Thursday who’s a supporter, particularly of large families.”
While the bill emerged from the House with strong bipartisan support, Senate Republicans have declined to go along. They have dismissed Schumer’s move as a “show vote,” and said they would have more leverage negotiating a broader tax package next year when many of the 2017 GOP tax cuts are set to expire.
“This is obviously an unserious effort because to put a bill on the floor the day before we break for a five-week recess is not a serious effort,” said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. “So it’s obviously just a show vote and I think we can do much better next year.”
Vance’s own position on the bill is not clear. Neither his Senate office nor the campaign could be reached for comment Tuesday. But there is much in the bill he would have reason to like.
Vance, who grew up poor in a family receiving government assistance, has spoken positively about elements of the tax package brokered by Wyden and House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., which includes an expansion of child tax credits for low-income households.
The bill also includes a provision he has supported to restore full, upfront deductions of investments in research and development. And critically for his own constituents, it contains tax relief for victims of last year’s derailment of a Norfolk Southern freight train in East Palestine, Ohio, that spilled hazardous chemicals.
Still, Vance may argue, as many Republicans do, that they should hold out for broader legislation.
‘Not terribly optimistic’
Senators acknowledged Tuesday that the chamber would likely fall short of the 60 votes needed to take up the bill, as Republicans mobilized to defeat the cloture motion.
“I’m not terribly optimistic,” Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin, D-Md, said.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., who supports the bill, said it would fall short of the votes needed amid opposition from Republican leadership.
“They’re not holding out for anything. There’s no negotiation,” Hawley said of leadership. “They’re not interested in passing anything, clearly.”
Republicans discussed the bill at their weekly conference lunch, according to several members present. As they left, many shared their intention to vote against the procedural measure and their expectation that it would die on the floor.
Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., who praised the bill in February as a “great opportunity” for both businesses and families, said he would vote against cloture.
“I can’t support it as is. I was hoping we would get to an amendment process. They’ve said we’re not going to get an amendment process. So I can’t support it,” Marshall said, leaving lunch. “I sure was hoping to get there.”
While Democrats broadly support the bill, there were signs that they could face some defections. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who has criticized the bill as a giveaway to big business, said she was “still struggling” with how she would vote.
Sen. Joe Manchin III, I-W.Va., who recently left the Democratic Party, but still caucuses with them, criticized the bill, saying the child tax credit reaches higher-earning families that don’t need it.
“You better make sure that money that you’re spending and investing from the federal government is going to those who need it the most,” he said, adding that he was looking at possible amendments. When asked how he would vote, Manchin said, “We’ll see.”
Under current policy, the child tax credit starts to phase out for families making $400,000. The bill wouldn’t touch that upper threshold, but would make changes to make more of the tax credit available to poorer families.
The bill would increase the share of the credit available as a refund, allowing poor families that owe little in income tax to qualify for more of the benefit. It would also help low-income families with multiple kids by allowing them to claim the maximum refundable credit, based on income, for each qualifying child rather than just one.
What comes next
Senate Finance ranking Republican Michael D. Crapo of Idaho said he hopes a strong showing of Republicans voting against considering the bill would bring Democrats back to the negotiating table.
“My hope is that we can show Democrats that they need to negotiate with us,” he said. “There are important things in this bill that need to get done. And whether it is now in this Congress, if we can get into negotiations, or the next Congress, I’m open. I want to resolve these issues.”
Wyden dismissed claims that he had been unwilling to negotiate, saying that he had offered to remove a provision that would allow families to use income from the previous year to qualify for the child tax credit and replace it with a provision that would similarly target aid at low-income kids.
Republicans have criticized the look-back provision, saying it would weaken work requirements, which Wyden disputes.
Wyden said Republicans are stalling until next year when they think they’ll be in a stronger negotiating position.
“When I offered the compromise they looked like the dog who caught the car, because they didn’t want to do anything,” Wyden said. “I’m of the view, they want to put this off to 2025 because if they’re in charge in 2025 they want to shovel money, as many breaks as possible, to their business buddies, and the families and the kids are going to be left behind.”
