GOP Tax Plan Expands Child Tax Credit Less Than Ivanka Hoped

The Republican tax plan released Thursday included an expansion of the child tax credit that Ivanka Trump has promoted, but to a lesser extent than she had hoped, according to Politico. 

The president's oldest daughter has been lobbying both Republicans and Democrats in private dinners and meetings, and partnered with Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., to work on the policy details, informed by a 2015 proposal by Rubio and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, Politico reported.

Trump had advocated for doubling the tax credit to at least $2,000, but instead House legislators stuck to a plan similar to the House Republican tax blueprint of 2016 that increases the credit from $1,000 to $1,600 per child with the first $1,000 refundable. That refundable amount would be tied to inflation, Politico's report said.

A White House official said the administration was "encouraged" by the expansion of the child tax credit in the legislation.

"Cabinet members and senior officials from the administration including Ivanka will be hitting the road in the coming weeks to continue to highlight how comprehensive tax reform will help working families," the official told Politico.

Rubio and Lee issued a statement calling for "straightforward, significant, and permanent" expansion of the child tax credit. "We wish the House draft had done more on this front," their statement said, according to Politico.

The senators have been proponents of increasing the credit beyond the House legislation's level. In Rubio and Lee's 2016 version, the child tax credit was $2,500 and partially refundable, Politico's report said.

The Senate's tax legislation has not been released and it could include the child tax credit expansion that Trump wanted.

"We look forward to working with our colleagues to make sure working families are moved to the front of the line in the Senate bill," Rubio and Lee's statement said, according to Politico.

Rubio told reporters last month that increasing the credit to $1,800 would only result in middle class families breaking even, Axios reported. 

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