House Tax Groups Meet Business Leaders as Congress Leaves Town

The House departed a week early for August recess, but GOP Ways and Means Committee lawmakers are taking tax issues on the road as they campaign in their districts during the annual respite Congress takes when Washington’s muggy weather sets in.

Committee Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) split his panel into 10 Republican-only working groups he dubbed tax teams to focus on issues from global tax to working families ahead of next year’s expiring 2017 GOP tax law provisions.

Democrats aren’t included in the GOP effort, which some critics dismissed as a bid catering to lobbyists. ...