Pence applauds Johnson for passing tax cut extension in ‘big, beautiful bill’

Former Vice President Mike Pence wrote to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Monday to commend him for getting a massive reconciliation package that included an extension of the 2017 tax cuts across the finish line.

“Our team at Advancing American Freedom is deeply grateful for your conservative leadership in extending the Trump-Pence Tax Cuts, and we look forward to working with you to champion the enormous achievement of the One Big Beautiful Bill and defend its merits on the campaign trail as a critical victory for the American people,” Pence wrote to Johnson in a letter obtained first by The Hill.

Trump on the Fourth of July signed the “one, big, beautiful bill” into law containing several of his top campaign promises around taxes, border funding and more.

The law makes 2017 tax breaks from Trump’s first term permanent, while adding some new tax breaks, such as no taxes on tips up to $25,000 and a “senior deduction” that will allow more people over 65 to avoid Social Security taxes.

“As Vice President, one of my greatest honors was presiding over the passage of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,” Pence wrote to Johnson. “We delivered conservative economic wins for the American people then—and you have delivered conservative economic wins for the American people now.”

Advancing American Freedom, an advocacy group founded by Pence after he left the White House in 2021, spent significant time and resources pressing lawmakers to extend the tax cuts Trump signed into law in 2017 while Pence was vice president.

The group aired ads, met with staff on Capitol Hill and launched a website highlighting the risks of allowing the tax cuts to expire.

Advancing American Freedom plans to keep the website up and running as a resource for lawmakers to defend the legislation on the campaign trail.