Mike Pence’s Foundation Launches $10 Million Campaign to Preserve Trump-Era Tax Cuts

Former Vice President Mike Pence speaks at a luncheon hosted by the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission during a Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Indianapolis on June 11, 2024. (Doug McSchooler/AP Photo)

Mike Pence’s foundation is launching a $10 million campaign to defend Trump-era tax cuts that are set to expire after next year.

The former vice president is encouraging conservatives not to stray from the fight ahead of the presidential election in November.

Advancing American Freedom (AAF) released its blueprint on Thursday aimed at preserving the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and rejecting the Biden administration’s tax increases. The 13-page document lays out arguments being made to Capitol Hill and voters, particularly in swing states that could decide Senate control.

“We will be urging conservative leaders to join us in this fight, champion American families that have benefited from this legislation, and put an end to Biden’s plans to hike taxes,” the document states.

The group expects a lengthy campaign that will continue through 2025 when lawmakers will decide whether to keep the 2017 tax law approved under President Donald Trump or make adjustments. If no action is taken, many of the individual tax policies will expire at the end of 2025.

Many of the decisions will depend on power centers in the House and Senate and which party controls the White House.

President Joe Biden has proposed raising corporate rates and increasing the tax rate to 39.6 percent for those making more than $400,000. The president’s plan would also tax capital gains at the same rate as wage income for those with more than $1 million in income.

Former President Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for the White House, also wants to keep the tax cuts for many households, but his proposal would reduce the corporate tax rate to 20 percent from the current rate of 21 percent.

“The past few years of the Biden administration have shown us that you cannot spend your way out of inflation, and you will not be able to tax your way out of a spending problem,” Mr. Pence said. “Washington has a spending problem, not a revenue problem. Our national debt is out of control, and taxing the American people more is not the solution.”

Changes to Tax Rates

Former Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), who played a significant role in crafting the 2017 tax bill, supports the foundation’s campaign to extend the tax policies.

“The Tax Cuts & Jobs Act resulted in a booming economy, fast wage growth, and the largest percentage of savings went to lower-income and middle-class Americans,” Mr. Toomey wrote on X on June 18. “Congress should make these cuts permanent.”

Former President Trump’s tax bill cut individual income tax rates and increased the standard deduction and child tax credit. It also reduced the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent.

President Biden’s budget proposal would increase the corporate tax rate to 28 percent, according to the White House.

The federal balance sheet is in the red, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said this week, with spending outpacing revenue.

“America faces a debt and deficit crisis,” the AAF wrote.

The national debt is equal to 123 percent of the current U.S. gross domestic product ($28.26 trillion), according to AAF.

“The only other time in history when our debt was so much higher than GDP was during World War II,” it said.