Don’t Retreat on Green Subsidy Repeal
New piece at National Review
As we wait for the Senate tax bill text, I am passing along a note of caution on undoing good reforms in the House-passed reconciliation bill.
Last week, I was in National Review Online arguing that the House drew the line on repealing the Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA) green subsidies, and any retreat by the Senate would be a betrayal of both fiscal sanity and President Trump’s energy agenda.
The House’s paring back of the IRA is a pivotal part of the House-passed tax package.
It phases out many of the biggest IRA credits, includes construction and placed-in-service requirements, outright repeals costly perks like the electric vehicle and clean hydrogen credits, and adds new limits on subsidies going to foreign adversaries, such as China. The House proposal isn’t perfect — it maintains and even expands some subsidies — but Senate Republicans must not retreat from it.
If Senate Republicans roll back the House reforms, they will be essentially passing the IRA again, this time with only Republican votes. I conclude:
Congress has a rare opportunity to restore a more neutral tax code, reduce the deficit, and fix energy markets. They shouldn’t blow it by pandering to special interests. The House-passed IRA repeal package isn’t perfect, but it is a massive improvement over current law. Any Senate move to weaken its reforms would be nothing short of surrender.
You can read the full piece here.