Trump to announce plans for new tax cuts
President Donald Trump speaks during an event honoring “Angel Families” who have lost family members to crimes committed illegally by people in the country at the White House in Washington on February 23, 2026.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
President Donald Trump said he will call for a new tax cut proposal during his State of the Union address Tuesday night, during a preliminary conversation with newscasters at the White House.
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CNBC’s Joe Kernen attended the meeting and reported on CNBC’s “Power Lunch” that the president laid out plans to defend new personal and corporate tax cuts that Trump wants to advance using a bipartisan budget reconciliation effort in Congress.
Reconciliation is a parliamentary process that allows a party that controls the House, Senate, and White House to overcome the Senate’s 60-vote threshold and advance certain legislation along party lines. Republicans in Congress passed tax cuts and many other domestic policies through compromise last year in a package known as the “big, beautiful bill.” The process also requires the Senate parliamentarian to decide that the legislation is budget-related.
Trump’s State of the Union address is expected to focus mainly on the economy. While opinion polls show the President losing ground on how he manages the economy, Democrats are making gains with his affordability message ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
But it is now much more difficult to advance any legislation through reconciliation, given House Speaker Mike Johnson’s narrowing margin in the lower chamber. Republicans hold a 218-214 majority in the House of Representatives, effectively a one-vote margin.
That means any effort to advance new tax cuts through compromise would be a tumultuous fight and require near unanimity on the Republican side; This is far from a guarantee.
