President Donald Trump would accept either the Senate tax bill with its seven individual brackets, or the House measure, which has four, White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney said on Monday in an interview with "CBS This Morning."
Mulvaney said that either version is acceptable because they both preserve key White House principles that ordinary Americans will pay less and that it will be simpler for them to pay.
"We favor whatever can pass," he said. "We like a simpler code. Keeping in mind the number of rates doesn't really change the simplicity of the code for ordinary folks."
Mulvaney also said the White House was flexible with the final corporate tax rate after Trump indicated that he might consider it at 22 percent rather than the proposed 20 percent in both the House and Senate versions.
"If it takes a smaller change in there to get this across the finish line, we are willing to work on the details with both the House and the Senate."
The White House is hoping Congress will pass the tax legislation by Christmas, Mulvaney said. If the House and Senate manage to come to an agreement over their different plans, both chambers would then need to vote on the final bill.
When asked if the president is concerned that a nonpartisan analysis projects the tax bill will add some $1.4 trillion to the debt, Mulvaney rejected the estimation, saying "The debt continues to be a priority for the White House."
He insisted that "We need this tax bill to grow the economy. A healthy American economy where everybody works, folks make more money, actually generates more money for the government coffers."
He similarly dismissed criticism that the Senate bill would repeal Obamacare's individual mandate and leave 13 million Americans without insurance.
"Think about that for a second," Mulvaney said. "So what the CBO is telling you is that as soon as the government tells you don't have to buy something, you're not going to. Is that necessarily a bad thing?
"Should the government really be forcing you to buy something you don't want to be. We are absolutely comfortable with that."
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