Treasury chief Yellen defends Biden budget against Republican senators' fears of tax increases

• Republican senators questioned Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen about provisions of the Trump administration's Tax Cuts and Jobs Act which if allowed to expire, they alleged, could raise taxes for some Americans.
• Yellen said President Joe Biden is committed to not raising taxes on households making under $400,000.
• Biden proposes reducing the federal deficit by $3 trillion over the next 10 years by taxing the wealthiest companies and households.

WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Thursday defended President Joe Biden's 2025 fiscal budget proposal as Republican senators said they feared taxes would rise for the middle class as the result of a law due to expire next year.

"For years, President Biden has vowed no tax increase on individuals earning less than $400,000," Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., said during a Senate Finance Committee hearing where Yellen was testifying.

"And now President Biden is choosing to let the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act expire and increase the corporate tax rate, forcing American families and workers to bear the cost of these 'woke' policies," Daines said, referencing clean energy policies under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.

Provisions of the TCJA — a landmark tax law proposed by the Trump administration and passed by Congress in 2017 — that are set to expire in 2025 include the child tax credit.

That credit allows taxpayers to reduce their tax bill by up to $2,000 per qualifying child, with an income threshold of up to $400,000 per family. An additional "other dependent credit" offers a tax credit of $500 to people with less than $400,000 in income who have qualified dependents who are ineligible for the child tax credit.

Biden's budget will restore the expanded child tax credit, the