Yellen 'very optimistic' Congress will pass bills needed to implement global minimum tax after G-20 agreement


After finance ministers from the world's 20 largest economies finished up a meeting in Venice, Italy, on Saturday by agreeing to support a proposal that would impose a global minimum tax of at least 15 percent, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said she's "very optimistic" that Congress will pass bills necessary to implement the deal stateside, Bloomberg reports.
Republicans, and some Democrats, remain skeptical of the plan and still intend to fight it, The New York Times writes. Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Tex.), for instance, said his expectation is that if and when the agreement is finalized it will provide advantages for "foreign companies and workers over American ones."
But Yellen doesn't seem concerned about the expected opposition. She said she's been talking with Democratic leaders of key congressional committees, and the expectation is that changes related to the global minimum tax will be get pushed through via the process of reconciliation, which won't require any GOP votes, so long as all Democrats are on board.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Regardless of whether Yellen's confidence is warranted, senior officials at the Group of 20 meeting in Venice told the Times that approval of the agreement within the U.S. is "crucial to its broader acceptance and should not be taken for granted." Read more at Bloomberg and The New York Times.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
Warren Buffet announces surprise retirement
speed read At the annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway, the billionaire investor named Vice Chairman Greg Abel his replacement
-
Trump calls Amazon's Bezos over tariff display
Speed Read The president was not happy with reports that Amazon would list the added cost from tariffs alongside product prices
-
Markets notch worst quarter in years as new tariffs loom
Speed Read The S&P 500 is on track for its worst month since 2022 as investors brace for Trump's tariffs
-
Tesla Cybertrucks recalled over dislodging panels
Speed Read Almost every Cybertruck in the US has been recalled over a stainless steel panel that could fall off
-
Crafting emporium Joann is going out of business
Speed Read The 82-year-old fabric and crafts store will be closing all 800 of its stores
-
Trump's China tariffs start after Canada, Mexico pauses
Speed Read The president paused his tariffs on America's closest neighbors after speaking to their leaders, but his import tax on Chinese goods has taken effect
-
Chinese AI chatbot's rise slams US tech stocks
Speed Read The sudden popularity of a new AI chatbot from Chinese startup DeepSeek has sent U.S. tech stocks tumbling
-
US port strike averted with tentative labor deal
Speed Read The strike could have shut down major ports from Texas to Maine