Trump’s tax attack on Cuellar is misleading, House votes show

Henry Cuellar voted on 16 April 2026 for a non-binding House resolution praising tax relief for tipped workers, overtime earners and older Americans — a vote Donald Trump leaves out of a misleading election attack on the Texas Democrat.

The attack accompanied Trump’s endorsement of Tano Tijerina for Texas’s 28th congressional district. In a Truth Social post dated 26 October 2026 by the Trump’s Truth archive, eight days before the 3 November election, the president said Cuellar had voted against his three “no tax” policies. He warned that “all of these things would be terminated” if Cuellar and the Democrats gained power. The post links to Swamp the Vote USA’s page urging Texans to vote Republican.

The April resolution, H.Res. 1156, explicitly cited the tips and overtime measures and the additional deduction for older Americans. It passed 219–207, with Cuellar one of three Democrats voting in favour. It did not change tax law or bind his future votes, but his support undercuts Trump’s portrayal of blanket opposition to the relief.

Cuellar’s earlier votes against the broader legislation are real. House records show he opposed H.R. 1 on 22 May 2025 and the Senate-amended package on 3 July 2025. The latter passed 218–214 and became law on 4 July. Both votes concerned the entire tax-and-spending package, rather than separate decisions on each tax break.

Explaining his July 2025 vote in a statement reproduced by Texas broadcaster KGNS, Cuellar said he had considered the bill “as a complete package”. He cited protecting healthcare and fiscal responsibility as reasons for opposing it.

Deductions, not blanket tax exemptions

The legislation also provides less than Trump’s “no tax” labels suggest. It created capped federal income-tax deductions, which reduce taxable income rather than cutting a tax bill dollar for dollar.

Eligible workers can deduct up to $25,000 annually in qualifying tips. The overtime deduction is capped at $12,500, or $25,000 for joint filers, and covers only the premium required by federal labour law above regular pay — for example, the extra half in time-and-a-half — not all earnings from extra hours. Both deductions are reduced at higher incomes. Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes generally still apply.

Trump’s “NO TAX ON SOCIAL SECURITY” description is false as a blanket account of the law. The measure introduced an additional deduction of up to $6,000 per eligible person aged 65 or over, subject to income limits; it did not abolish income tax on Social Security benefits. Depending on income, up to 85% of those benefits can still be included in taxable income. That is the share of benefits subject to tax, not an 85% tax rate.

The repeal warning goes beyond the record

There is a genuine repeal position within the Democratic Party. In a July 2026 report republished by AOL, The Center Square quoted Illinois Democrat Sean Casten saying he would keep fighting to “repeal that whole damn bill once we get the gavels back”.

That supports the possibility of repeal efforts after a Democratic victory. It does not establish Cuellar’s intentions or a common commitment to remove all three deductions. Trump’s post identifies no Cuellar repeal proposal, while the congressman’s later support for the resolution is directly relevant counterevidence to the president’s warning.

All three deductions are already scheduled to expire after the 2028 tax year under the law Trump signed. Extending them from 2029 would require further legislation, whichever party wins — a different issue from Trump’s unsubstantiated prediction that Cuellar would scrap them.