Wealthy U.S. Senate candidate Bernie Moreno wants more tax cuts for the rich

Ohio U.S. Senate candidate Bernie Moreno has endorsed the extension of a tax plan that primarily benefits wealthy Americans like himself. Moreno’s net worth is estimated to be $105.7 million.

In December 2017, then-President Donald Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act into law. The bill cut tax rates for wealthy people and big corporations. Many of those cuts are set to expire in 2025, making their future likely contingent on which party controls the White House and Congress next year.

Moreno, who owns a chain of car dealerships, secured the Republican nomination in March to challenge incumbent Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown. Brown opposed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and has called for curbing it.

“It was a giveaway to corporate interests and the richest people in the country,” Brown told CNN in 2021. “Of course we should scale some of that back.”

On June 25, Moreno appeared on a podcast hosted by conservative pundit Monica Crowley. In the interview, Crowley asked Moreno if he supports extending the Trump tax credits.

“Of course,” Moreno replied.

This is not the first time Moreno has endorsed extending the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. In a December 2023 interview on the Bruce Hooley Show, Moreno was asked what he would do to reduce the national debt and cut wasteful federal spending.

“Well, the most important part of that question is the spending side,” Moreno responded. “The reality is we have to make the Trump tax cuts permanent in 2025.”

Moreno made a similar statement at a Republican event in Highland Heights, OH in September 2023.

“​​If the Democrats stay in office, there’s no question those tax cuts will expire,” Moreno said. “We got to make those tax cuts permanent. That’s one of the main things we got to get done when we do win in 2025.”

Moreno’s assertion that extending the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act would reduce the national debt is incorrect. The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget determined in January that the law has already added $1.9 trillion to the debt. The ​​Congressional Budget Office said in May that extending the law for ten years could add another $4.6 trillion to the deficit.

The Cook Political Report, which analyzes elections and campaigns, ranks Ohio’s U.S. Senate race as a “toss up.”

A Moreno spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment for this story.