Pelosi pushes back on Trump’s call for capital gains tax cuts in next coronavirus bill

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday pushed back on President Trump’s suggestion that capital gains tax cuts be considered for the next coronavirus response package, suggesting that discussions about tax policy should be left for another time.

“If you want to compare the need for us to change the capital gains tax, which, once again, once again, ignores the fact that there are people in our country that are hungry, and that there is some equivalence to that, I respectfully disagree,” Pelosi said in a television interview with Bloomberg’s David Westin. “There are certain things that are urgent.”

Trump has indicated his priorities for future coronavirus recovery legislation in recent days.

On Tuesday, the president tweeted that “the elimination of Sanctuary Cities, Payroll Taxes, and perhaps Capital Gains Taxes, must be put on the table.” Two days earlier, he said during a Fox News virtual town hall that a payroll tax cut was a must-have for him.

People pay capital gains taxes when they sell investments. Capital gains tax cuts have long been supported by conservatives, who view them as a way to boost investment and economic growth. But Democrats are typically critical of capital gains tax cuts, arguing that they largely benefit wealthy people. 

Pelosi said that tax policy should be addressed on a bipartisan basis, at a later date. She also said that Trump shouldn’t say that any specific item has to be in the next bill for him to back it.

“Don’t draw any lines in the sand,” Pelosi said. “We’re not. He shouldn’t.”

Pelosi said that top Democratic priorities for the next bill include aid to state and local government, resources to expand testing and putting more money in people’s pockets.