Scorekeeper Set to Play Pivotal Role in 2025 Tax Cliff Talks

How a tax package comes together in 2025 when a swath of provisions from the GOP’s tax law expire will depend on the cost estimates and analyses coming out of Congress’s scorekeeper, the Joint Committee on Taxation.

Love it or hate it, a “score” of how much a tax bill will cost or raise from the nearly 70-person office down the street from the US Capitol can make or break legislation.

And members don’t always like what JCT has to say. Longtime Chief of Staff Tom Barthold said in an interview he hasn’t taken it personally when lawmakers have yelled, ...