More Than 100 Democrats Call for Repeal of Trump Tax Break Benefitting Millionaires


A group of Democrats has written to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer urging them to repeal a Trump-era tax break that disproportionately benefits millionaires.© Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) listens as Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) speaks during a press conference on Capitol Hill on December 20, 2020 in Washington, DC. A group of 120 Democrats have urged the leadership to repeal a Trump era tax cut that benefits millionaires.

Senator Sheldon White (D-RI) and Texas Congressman Lloyd Doggett led the group of 120 Democrats in the House and Senate in calling for the tax cut to be reversed.

"As we continue to debate allocating limited resources to stimulate the economy, we write to bring your attention to costly tax breaks for so-called 'net operating losses' that Republicans tucked into the CARES Act," the letter read.

CARES—the Coronavirus Relief and Economic Security Act—was a $2.2 trillion stimulus package that also contained the controversial tax cut.

"These special-interest giveaways will confer over 80 percent of the benefits to just over 43,000 taxpayers, each earning at least $1 million per year," the Democrats' letter went on.

"We urge you to repeal these unwarranted tax cuts," they say, citing Pelosi's proposed HEROES plans, which have repealed the tax break.

"This would save over $250 billion which should be repurposed to help Americans who have lost income due to the pandemic and its economic fallout," the group of Democrats said.

BREAKING: @SenWhitehouse, @LloydDoggettTX, @RepCohen + @rosadelauro just sent a letter with over 120 signers calling on Democratic leadership to repeal the tax breaks for millionaires Senate Republicans slipped into COVID relief last year.

Its repeal would generate $250 billion. pic.twitter.com/UNGj2mAJX3— Americans For Tax Fairness (@4TaxFairness) February 3, 2021

The letter to Pelosi and Schumer also argued the tax cuts "benefit a narrow set of high-income taxpayers, including hedge funds, real estate developers, and likely the Trump family."

"The repeal of NOL [net operating losses] in the CARES Act had little to do with pandemic relief and arbitrarily rewards business who lost money before the pandemic began.

"Making matters worse, unlike the small business relief provided through the Paycheck Protection Program, these windfalls come with no strings attached to ensure they support payroll or critical business operations."

The tax cut applied to losses incurred between 2018 and 2020 and eliminating it could raise $250 billion over the course of 10 years, the Democrats said. Some of this would be brought in by "clawing back" money from companies that have already filed taxes and benefited from the CARES Act cut.

"The best place to start for Republicans urging more narrowly-targeted relief is eliminating the $250 billion bonanza for hedge fund managers and real estate speculators they previously tucked into the CARES Act," Whitehouse and Doggett said in a separate statement.

"With 120 Democratic lawmakers, we urge negotiators to halt the windfall to the least needy and reinvest in the most needy."

The letter comes as Democrats appear set to push ahead with new stimulus without Republican support. The proposed package would be worth $1.9 trillion.