The House and Senate are debating how to assemble and pass the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill”—legislation intended to tackle a host of President Donald Trump’s top priorities, including securing the border, locking in low tax rates, lowering energy prices, and moving in the direction of a balanced budget.
As this debate, and the broader conversation about spending levels and tax policies, goes around and around in Washington, Congress should pay careful attention to the priorities of voters: that means cutting taxes and spending.
That’s according to new polling that we conducted with our friends at the Tax Foundation to better understand public opinion on taxes. The results shouldn’t be shocking—voters want Congress and the president to reduce inflation, cut spending, and keep taxes low.
Members of Congress must recognize the environment in which they find themselves in. Two-thirds of Americans think their taxes are currently too high and 87% believe it would be a tax hike if Congress allows the Trump tax cuts to expire at the end of the year, as they are scheduled to do. Lawmakers simply cannot allow this to happen, especially given the higher trade taxes that are kicking in now and causing enormous economic disruption.
And, while many Americans think the debt needs to be reduced, only 5% believe raising taxes is the proper way to do so. Half of voters think spending cuts are the better approach and 45% support economic growth as the best means to reduce red ink. This, once again, should push lawmakers to craft a bill that not only reduces spending, but also provides the economy with a much-needed boost via better tax policies.
Congress is now moving the budget process forward to enable passage of the “One Big Beautiful Bill.” It won’t be an easy path forward, as this is a complicated, multi-faceted piece of legislation. But lawmakers should keep focused on delivering what their constituents want—lower taxes and more responsible fiscal policies.