--- title: 401(k)s Might Still Change, Despite Donald Trump's Tweet description: President Trump said he would not accept any changes to 401(k)s as part of tax reform, but a top lawmaker is still open to the idea. canonical: https://time.com/4998927/401k-donald-trump-tax-reform/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-10-26T17:07:35.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T18:00:58.533Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Said He Won't Change Your 401(k). But the Fight Isn't Over Yet og:description: A top Republican lawmaker is still open to changes og:url: https://time.com/4998927/401k-donald-trump-tax-reform/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt18b3dee669d22667/6988e34397cdff18df6b2fdb/gettyimages-8654787021.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: President Trump And Singapore PM Loong Give Joint Statements At White House og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Said He Won't Change Your 401(k). But the Fight Isn't Over Yet twitter:description: A top Republican lawmaker is still open to changes twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt18b3dee669d22667/6988e34397cdff18df6b2fdb/gettyimages-8654787021.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump Said He Won't Change Your 401(k). 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Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Oct 26, 2017 5:07 PM UTC  WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 23: U.S. President Donald Trump listens to Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong as they deliver joint statements in the Rose Garden of the White House October 23, 2017 in Washington, DC. Trump and Lee are meeting ahead of Trump's first official visit to Asia to attend the APEC and ASEAN meetings during the first two weeks of November. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 23: U.S. President Donald Trump listens to Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong as they deliver joint statements in the Rose Garden of the White House October 23, 2017 in Washington, DC. Trump and Lee are meeting ahead of Trump's first official visit to Asia to attend the APEC and ASEAN meetings during the first two weeks of November. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Oct 26, 2017 5:07 PM UTC In the past, a president putting out a public statement that he would not accept any changes to a popular program would have been the final word. Sure, Congress might have gone ahead and passed a bill, but the veto would have been just a formality. That’s not happening with [President Donald Trump](http://time.com/4998276/demolition-crew/). On Monday, he tweeted that he would not accept any changes to [401(k) retirement savings programs](https://time.com/nextadvisor/investing/retirement/how-much-to-save-for-retirement/) as part of [the upcoming Republican tax reform legislation](http://time.com/4997163/donald-trump-republican-party-tax-reform/). > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/922428118685581313) End of discussion, right? Not for House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, who said Wednesday that [lawmakers are “exploring a number of ideas”](https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/25/rep-kevin-brady-says-401k-changes-could-happen-contradicting-trump.html) for changing 401(k)s — though he also declined to say exactly what those might be. There are two main reasons why Brady is still open to an idea that the president from his own party has so emphatically opposed. First, Republicans need to find ways to save the government money in order to pay for tax cuts elsewhere in the bill. Limiting 401(k) contributions or changing them to be more like Roth IRAs — where money is taxed now instead of during your retirement — or making other tweaks would raise money to offset things like abolishing the estate tax. Second, Trump has a problem with follow-through. In the past, he’s declared that his replacement for the Affordable Care Act would mean [“we’re going to have insurance for everybody,”](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-vows-insurance-for-everybody-in-obamacare-replacement-plan/2017/01/15/5f2b1e18-db5d-11e6-ad42-f3375f271c9c%5Fstory.html) then backed a bill that would leave [23 million more people uninsured](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/24/us/politics/cbo-congressional-budget-office-health-care.html). His promises to declare China a currency manipulator, sue his accusers and release his tax returns [have all been broken](http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/trumpometer/rulings/promise-broken/). And his tweets, though they are [considered official statements](http://time.com/4808270/sean-spicer-donald-trump-twitter-statements/) by the White House, haven’t always been backed up by official action, as when he tweeted that transgender troops would no longer be accepted [without telling the Pentagon first](https://www.apnews.com/997b57d4cd444bc48d67a0dbcab19373). Some of this stems from [Trump’s negotiating style](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/27/upshot/art-of-the-bluff-the-limits-of-trumps-negotiation-strategy.html?%5Fr=0), which is to make a bold or even outlandish statement up front to set the terms of the debate, then slowly work backward to something acceptable. While that worked in his career as a real estate developer, it means that his negotiating partners in Congress aren’t going to take his red-line pronouncements as gospel. Even if he personally tweets them. 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