WIZM News: Rep. Derrick Van Orden talks tax cuts with seniors in West Salem

As tax season is wrapping up, U.S. House Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Prairie du Chien) met with about 20 people Wednesday in West Salem, promoting the “working families” tax cuts available for a four-year period.

Under the tax cut bill, people 65 and older may claim an extra tax deduction of $6,000 for singles and $12,000 for couples.

Van Orden told reporters at Hunter’s Last Chance in West Salem, that the tax cuts expire in 2028 because of Democrats.

“The reason that this is expiring in 2028 is because we had to get the Democrats to vote for a tax break,” Van Orden said, incorrectly. “So the Democrats in the Senate would not vote for this bill if there wasn’t a sunset for the tax break for our seniors, which I think is repulsive.”

No Democrats in the House or Senate voted for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

The tax cuts were part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a sweeping legislative package passed by Republicans in July 2025 without a single Democratic vote. Because the bill lacked the 60 votes needed to overcome a Senate filibuster, Republicans used a procedural tool called budget reconciliation.

Under Senate rules — specifically the Byrd Rule — any provision passed through reconciliation cannot increase the federal deficit beyond a set “budget window” (usually 10 years). To stay within these financial limits while making other parts of the bill permanent, lawmakers set specific items, like the senior tax deduction and overtime tax breaks, to expire after four years. This “sunset” allows the bill to technically meet budget requirements, though it creates a “tax cliff” for millions of Americans at the end of 2028 unless a future Congress votes to extend them. 

Van Orden added that he’s pleased that the cuts have taken effect.

“It’s an incredibly positive response,” Van Orden said. “Americans went to war over a nickel tax, and threw a bunch of tea in the harbor in Boston a long time ago. We don’t like paying taxes.”

The Congressman said the tax cut measure allows nearly 90 percent of seniors to collect Social Security benefits without having to pay federal taxes on them.

While the law did not change the underlying tax formula for Social Security, the significantly higher deductions mean many middle-income seniors no longer reach the taxable income threshold.