Rand Paul comes out against Trump's payroll tax deferral: 'Probably a mistake'

(Image credit: JIM LO SCALZO/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

published 19 August 2020

President Trump's payroll tax deferral is effectively dead.

Pretty much no one, Senate Republicans included, wanted to put a payroll tax cut Trump was pushing for in the next coronavirus relief bill. And Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) seemingly put the final nail in the coffin on Thursday as he told Fox News it's "probably a mistake" to do so.

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But a potential reward for Americans getting back to work — Trump's payroll tax deferral — was also "probably a mistake," Paul said, because it would hurt the Social Security trust it funds. And as Forbes' Andrew Solander noted, Paul's opposition will likely seal the end of the proposition. Kathryn Krawczyk

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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.