It’s an open secret in Washington that accomplishing anything to benefit the public during an election year is a tactical blunder for the opposition party. But on Wednesday, Senator Chuck Grassley let that secret slip unabashedly while protesting a bipartisan tax bill. “Passing a tax bill that makes the president look good, mailing out checks before the election, means he could be reelected,” the 90-year-old Iowa Republican told Semafor hours before the bill’s passage in the Republican-controlled House. “And then we won’t [be able to] extend the 2017 tax cuts.”

Far from mailing out checks, the bill would merely provide a larger tax credit for millions of children in low-income families whose earnings do not meet the current qualifications. Grassley was seemingly referring to a 2021 child tax credit that did provide monthly checks for qualifying parents. However, checks are not mentioned in the most recent bill that cleared the House. The bill would also restore business tax benefits that Republicans originally passed in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act—including relief for companies with high debt burdens and immediate deductions for US companies investing in research, experimentation, machinery, and equipment.

While Grassley voted for the 2017 bill that originally provided the business benefits, he argued that the political timing might not be right to extend them now—the implication being that Congress could pass a longer-term bill if Joe Biden loses in November and Republicans return to power next year. “There’s disagreement by some people on whether or not the bill upsets strategy for 2025—extending the 2017 tax bill,” the lawmaker said. “And all these things are questions that are unanswered.”

When asked whether Grassley still opposes the bill now that it has passed the House, a spokesperson for the senator said, “Your characterization that Senator Grassley ‘feel[s] that it would be a mistake’ to pass the bill is presumptuous, given that [Senate Finance Committee chairman Ron Wyden] has yet to schedule a Finance Committee markup to consider it. Senator Grassley looks forward to providing input at that time and does not yet have a position on the bill.” 

 Inducing legislative gridlock to hurt Biden is a strategy that Donald Trump has likewise pursued. The former president is pressuring Republicans not to negotiate with the White House on a bipartisan deal that would sanction tougher border policies in exchange for another round of funding for Ukraine. Like Grassley, Trump doesn’t want any bill to land on the president’s desk that might make Biden look good or make Washington appear functional under his leadership as November nears. Nevertheless, Trump has denied trying to torpedo the deal for “political reasons,” instead claiming he opposes it because it does not go far enough. “A lot of people do call me, they respect [me] and say, ‘What do you think’?’” the former president said during a trip to Washington on Wednesday. “If the bill is not going to be a great bill and really solve the problem, I wouldn’t do it at all.”