Mulvaney OK With Keeping Individual Mandate, Provides No Guidance on How to Pay For It

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Mulvaney: White House ‘OK’ pulling individual mandate repeal from tax bill

White House budget director Mick Mulvaney said Sunday that the administration wants to repeal part of Obamacare in Congress’ tax bill but is “OK with taking it out” if “it becomes an impediment.”

….“If we can repeal part of Obamacare as part of a tax bill, and have a tax bill that is still a good tax bill that can pass, that’s great,” Mulvaney continued. “If it becomes an impediment to getting the best tax bill we can, then we’re OK with taking it out. So, I think it’s up to the Senate and the House to sort of hammer out those details.

Fine, but repealing the individual mandate saves a lot of money, according to the CBO score. In 2027, it reduces the deficit due to tax cuts from $91 billion to $37 billion. Since this deficit needs to be zero in 2028, Republicans have a lot more hammering out to do if they keep the mandate. I wonder if Mulvaney or Trump have any opinion on how to deal with these pesky little details?

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In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

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