Republican Deficit Hawks Challenge House Leadership’s Tax Cut Package

House Republican leaders scrambled Wednesday to shore up support for their $190-billion package of tax cuts as it eroded under pressure from GOP mavericks who want the tax reductions to take effect only if substantial progress is made in cutting the deficit.

Backed by more than two dozen colleagues, Rep. Michael N. Castle (R-Del.) appealed to the House Rules Committee to let lawmakers make tax cuts contingent on achievement of future balanced-budget targets.

In a meeting of the Rules Committee, Castle warned against offering Americans tax cuts before making more progress in balancing the budget. “Everyone would like to skip their vegetables and go straight to dessert,” Castle said. “But, even a child will tell you, you shouldn’t do that.”

Castle’s proposal creates yet another challenge for House leaders, who already are trying to fend off an effort by more than 100 GOP lawmakers to prevent households earning more than $95,000 a year from qualifying for a proposed family tax credit.

The apparent desire of many House members to stress deficit control over tax reduction has prompted House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) to acknowledge that the GOP tax bill is “in some trouble.”

But Gingrich sent a group of lieutenants to determine what concessions might be offered to salvage support for the tax measure, considered the centerpiece of the GOP “contract with America.”