House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith: Mr. Bipartisanship?

Speaking at a conference Thursday sponsored by the Tax Council Policy Institute, the reliably partisan tax chieftain struck a conciliatory tone in saying he wants to spend the rest of this year working with Democrats on a number of issues.

The Missouri Republican had kind words to say about his panel’s ranking Democrat Rep. Richard Neal (“effective”), Alabama Democratic tax writer Terri Sewell (“a jewel”) and especially Sen. Ron Wyden (Ore.), the top Democrat on the Finance committee.

“We’re not from the same cloth, but I love Senator Wyden — I really do,” said Smith, adding they’re supposed to have lunch next Monday. “He’s a good, good man.”

Smith had little to say about the third reconciliation package House Republicans hope to put together and, at one point, called it “reconciliation 10.0 or whatever.”

He emphasized instead areas where he said he could work with Democrats.

“We can do things on health care, trade and tax from a bipartisan perspective, and I intend to do that in the next few months,” he told conference attendees.

“Everything that we move forward on Ways and Means needs to be bipartisan, because I want to legislate,” Smith continued. “I don’t want to just like pass things just to pass things. I want them to become law.”

It’s a notable shift for Smith, who was one of the architects behind Republicans’ hyperpartisan tax cuts pushed into law last year, and comes even as his House colleagues still hope to pass yet another party-line reconciliation bill later this summer, in addition to the one now pending in the Senate that’s focused on funding immigration enforcement.

Smith noted that he had just arrived from a closed-door meeting with Democratic tax writers to discuss cryptocurrency tax issues. He’s spent months working on a still-unreleased plan to revise the tax code to account for the rise of digital assets, though he’s said he won’t move it without support from Democrats.

Smith has also been pushing to move a package of uncontroversial measures aimed at improving tax administration.

Senators voted Thursday to withhold their paychecks during future government shutdowns, following a record spate of funding lapses in recent months.

The Senate adopted the measure by voice vote, slating the change set to kick in after the November elections. Under the new rule, senators will receive back pay after a government shutdown ends.

“This is about shared sacrifice,” the legislation’s sponsor, Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), said on the Senate floor this week. “This is about putting our money where our mouth is.”

The move follows the record 43-day funding lapse last fall that affected all federal agencies. Congress also prompted a brief partial government shutdown beginning in late January and allowed funding to lapse for the Department of Homeland Security for another 76 days this year.

Kennedy predicts another funding lapse when federal cash expires at the beginning of October. “I’m very concerned that my Senate colleagues on the Democratic side are going to try to shut down the government yet again right before the election, to try to create chaos to affect the midterm elections,” he said.

Senate Republicans are discussing possible changes to a $1 billion line item in the pending reconciliation bill for Secret Service security funding, which can be used for parts of President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom, according to five people granted anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter.

The discussions come as the GOP prepares to argue to the chamber’s parliamentarian that security funding complies with the rules governing the party-line budget reconciliation process. With a ruling at least several days away, senators aren’t close to making a decision about tweaking the language, which has sparked days of controversy.