Following the Senate vote on the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024, which would expand the child tax credit, DNC National Press Secretary Emilia Rowland released the following statement:

“Today MAGA Republicans once again proved that their commitment to tax handouts to their billionaire donors does not extend to hardworking American families by blocking a deal negotiated on a bipartisan basis that would have lifted as many as 400,000 children out of poverty in the first year alone. Every Republican who voted to block this tax relief for hardworking families has failed children and moms and dads across America. Trump and Vance’s Project 2025 agenda would go even further – raising taxes for middle-class families by $2,500 a year and eliminating Head Start, which would strip away access to early childhood education for hundreds of thousands of children. American families deserve so much better. That’s why we need Vice President Kamala Harris in the White House with Democratic majorities in Congress to build on the progress of the Biden-Harris administration’s work delivering lower child care costs, more affordable housing, and food assistance to children year round.”

Republicans blocked an expansion of the child tax credit (CTC).

CNN: “Senate GOP blocks tax bill as Democrats spotlight child credit in election-year push”

“Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked a bipartisan tax package that would have temporarily expanded the child tax credit and restored some business tax benefits.

“The bill failed to advance in a procedural vote of 48-44, short of the 60 it required to succeed.”

Meanwhile, Senate Democrats advocated for the passage of the bill, while highlighting Republican hypocrisy.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse: “[The expanded child tax credit] enabled parents to get into the workforce. There is a phony narrative that if you give the child tax credit to families they will just avoid work. Our experience was the opposite. Once you had child tax credit revenues and you could afford, for instance, child care for your kid, then you could go to work […] 

“This is a pro-child and pro-work tax credit.”

Sen. Bob Casey: “In 2021, Democrats passed the American Rescue Plan, which had as one of its features an enhanced version of the child tax credit. By passing that legislation in 2021, we cut child poverty in half according to the Census Bureau. […] 

“I encourage all of our colleagues – in both parties – to stand with those children, to stand with those families, and vote yes on this tax bill.”

Sen. Maggie Hassan: “Expanding the child tax credit is a common sense, practical way to put more money back in the pockets of hardworking families. 

“There’s a reason that a majority of Americans support these proposals. It’s because they’re good ideas that will make a difference in people’s lives. […] 

“Unfortunately, some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have seemingly allowed partisan politics to interfere with good faith efforts to find a path forward.”

MAGA Republicans’ vote to block this essential legislation should not come as a surprise. Trump and his MAGA cronies are trying to hide their extreme Project 2025 agenda that would hurt low-income, working families. Trump and his extremist allies’ Project 2025 agenda includes: 

• Eliminating the Head Start program, which has served nearly 40 million children, providing educational and developmental opportunities for low-income families.
  • Project 2025’s Mandate for Leadership, pg. 482: “Eliminate the Head Start program.”
    
• Rejecting the notion of universal child care altogether in favor of incentivizing “home-based” childcare solutions.
  • Project 2025’s Mandate for Leadership, pg. 486: “Prioritize funding for home-based childcare, not universal day care.”
    
• Raising taxes for the typical middle class family by $2,500 a year, and reducing taxes for the ultra-wealthy.

Polling shows that tax benefits and affordable child care are an important issue for voters — and the Trump-Vance ticket refuses to prioritize the needs of young working families, which was exemplified in Trump’s first term.

First Five Year Fund: “New Polling on Child Care and the 2024 Election”

“In this election year, an overwhelming majority of voters (89%) want candidates to have a plan or policies ready to help working parents afford high-quality child care. This cuts across party lines, with 80% of Republicans, 88% of Independents, and 99% of Democrats. […]

“Voters make a strong connection between child care and a strong economy, with 68% of all voters saying access to high-quality, affordable child care is “essential/very important” to strengthening the economy.  This includes 53% of Republicans, 64% of Independents, and 84% of [Democrats] […]

“Increasing the Federal Child Care Tax Credit (Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit, or CDCTC): A large majority of voters (76%) support increasing the federal child care tax credit (CDCTC), the only existing tax credit specifically designed to help ease the burden of child care costs for working families. This includes 62% of Republicans, 74% of Independents, and 92% of Democrats.” 

Center for American Progress: “5 Ways the Trump Administration’s Policies Have Harmed Children”

“Early experiences can affect children’s life outcomes. Food insecurity can lead to delays in healthy development; housing insecurity can cause adverse health outcomes and worsen academic outcomes; lack of health insurance leads to delayed medical care and unmet health needs as well as added stress for parents; and separation from parents exposes children to toxic stress, which alters the structure of their developing brains.”

Vance: “‘Universal day care’ is class war against normal people.”

Vance: “It turns out that normal Americans care more about their families than their jobs, and want a family policy that doesn’t shunt their kids into crap daycare so they can enjoy more ‘freedom’ in the paid labor force.”