The Fiscal Month in Review: Trump’s Fiscal Agenda

With the election in the rearview mirror, a number of important fiscal and economic policy issues are coming into focus for legislative action in the new year.

• Policymakers have expressed an interest in moving quickly on corporate and individual tax reform in 2017. According to the Washington Post, however, House and Senate Republicans may not be on the same page when it comes to the details.
• President Elect-Trump continued to express support for a large infrastructure bill in 2017, but members of Congress have raised concerns about the nature of the investment and the effect on the budget. 
• Healthcare is also a key agenda item, with lawmakers discussing both a repeal of the Affordable Care Act and Medicare reform.
• President-Elect Trump also announced a number of nominations for key fiscal policy roles in his administration, including Steve Mnuchin for Secretary of the Treasury and Tom Price for Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Congress has still not set the budget for fiscal year 2017, and the government is currently operating under a stopgap spending bill, or continuing resolution, which is set to expire December 9. Mid-month, Speaker Paul Ryan announced that Republicans would pursue another continuing resolution to run through March 31, though the details are still being debated. Some Congressional Republicans have expressed concerns about delaying budget decisions, and the Pentagon comptroller warned Congress that stopgap spending bills could undermine the war on terrorism.

The next president and Congress will face critically important fiscal challenges, but there are many bipartisan solutions for them to choose from.

The Fiscal Confidence Index for November is 60.  The index moved slightly in a positive direction this month following the election, due in part to a significant increase in the expectations of Republicans that progress will be made on the national debt in the next few years.

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