Several Democrats would embrace Republican tax-cut plans, but their leaders won't let them, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said Tuesday.
The California Republican told "Fox and Friends" that he has talked with Democrats on the House floor when they are out of earshot of Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and other party bosses.
"If their leadership would let them go, I bet there'd be quite a few," he said, when asked if he knew of any Democrats who would support the plan.
McCarthy appeared on the Fox News morning program as President Donald Trump was preparing to meet with Senate Republicans at their weekly policy lunch Tuesday.
The Senate last week passed a budget blueprint that takes a major step toward reforming the U.S. tax code and cutting taxes. The House is expected to consider the bill as early as Thursday, as GOP lawmakers are under pressure to approve a tax bill before the end of the year, according to The Hill.
McCarthy called the Senate budget an "American tax plan" that would "help everybody."
"A vote for the budget is really a vote for tax reform," he said.
McCarthy said tax reform would double the standard deduction for single persons to $12,000 from $6,000 and for couples to $24,000 from $12,000.
It would also slash the current 35 percent corporate tax, the highest in the industrialized world, to 20 percent.
"We want a tax code that is actually fair," he said. "We want one that produces growth . . . and we want America to become competitive again around the world."