David Jackson, and Herb Jackson

USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — Seeking to step up legislative activity ahead of his 100th day in office, President Trump plans to unveil the outline of a tax reform plan Wednesday in the face of congressional headwinds that range from health care to worries about the budget deficit.

Congressional leaders in Trump's own party said they are in no rush to move a tax bill, and the chairman of the House tax committee says he still sees the project as a year-long effort.

White House officials declined to discuss details of the plan, beyond confirming that Trump would seek to cut the corporate tax rate 15%, just as he pledged during last year's presidential campaign. The campaign tax proposal also called for simplifying the tax code and creating new, lower tax brackets of 10%, 20%, and 25% for individuals, as well as zero for low-income filers.

It is unlikely Trump will offer details or draft legislation to implement the cuts.

The prospect of tax cuts without more revenues or budget cuts is already the subject of congressional concern.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said he isn't opposed to tax cuts in general, but whacking corporate taxes to 15% could be too aggressive.

“I’m not convinced that cutting taxes is necessarily going to blow a hole in the deficit; I actually believe it could stimulate the economy and get the economy moving," Hatch said. "Now, whether 15 percent is the right figure or not, that’s a matter to be determined.”

Prominent Republicans like House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Rep, Kevin Brady, R-Texas, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, say they want any tax reform to be "revenue neutral," meaning it would not increase the deficit.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and other Trump officials said they plan to finance tax reform with economic growth of up to 3% annually. But Hatch’s Democratic counterpart on the tax committee, Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, questioned whether the math in those projections would add up.

“The idea that you could cut the tax code by enormous sums, billions and billions of dollars, and have it all made up by economic growth — I know of no analyst who is looking at this in an objective way who thinks those numbers add up," he said.

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Wyden said he needs to see details of the president’s plan but he starts from the position that benefits should be focused on working families because consumers drive 70% of the economy. Wyden also said Democrats have not been involved in the process so far, even though he told Trump at a meeting this year that tax reform has historically been a bipartisan effort in Congress.

Senate Minority Leader McConnell, R-Ky., said he was planning to use a budget process that would prevent Democrats from filibustering the tax bill because he said the minority party is not as interested in being a partner on tax reform as it was in 1986, the last time a comprehensive rewrite of the tax code was completed.

"Today's Democratic Party seems to me to be preoccupied with wealth transfer from those who have done well to those who have done less well," he said.

Brady, the House Ways and Means chairman, said he has invited Democrats to participate in discussions but was not sure how the process would end. Through much of this year, Brady has said he hoped to get a bill through committee this spring, but he struck a different note Tuesday.

"I'm less focused on the month than on the year for tax reform, which will be this year," Brady said.

Administration aides had planned to roll out the tax plan later this year, but Trump moved it up to this week as part of a flurry of executive orders, administration briefings, and special events leading into Saturday's 100-day mark.

Earlier in the year, Trump and aides had hoped to pursue tax changes after Congress repealed and replaced President Barack Obama's health care law, hoping that would reduce federal spending and accommodate tax cuts. The Republican-run House balked at a proposed health care replacement last month, though Trump aides have revived their efforts to win a health care bill as part of their 100-day push.

In the meantime, Trump aides are also trying to avoid a government shutdown by negotiating a new spending bill before the current one expires at midnight Friday.

There is some question as to how specific Trump's plan will be, and some possible ideas are already drawing objections.

Trump's team has discussed a "border adjustment tax" on imported goods coming into the United States, drawing opposition from congressional critics who say it would lead to higher prices.

Border adjustment was proposed in a blueprint House Republicans released in June, and it would have provided more than $1 trillion over 10 years to offset the lost revenue of lower corporate rates. But it has faced significant opposition, especially from retailers who warned it would increase the cost for clothing, toys and other goods predominantly made overseas, and Trump has argued it was too complicated.

Brady says it would eliminate advantages that foreign manufacturers have over American companies selling overseas, and he would continue to push the idea with modifications.

"As a country we shouldn't accept a tax code that a favors foreign workers and foreign products over American workers and American products," he said. "The border adjustment provision isn't just a pay-for, it is about leveling the playing field."

Another potential obstacle: Some Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., say they will not consider a tax plan until Trump releases his own tax returns.