A swing-district Democrat, Bob Brooks, who is running against Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, R-Pa., in a toss-up seat, has disparaged Trump’s landmark overtime tax break despite his national firefighters union’s support. Brooks is the president of the Pennsylvania Professional Firefighters Association, which is a subsidiary of the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF).

Local Angle

The issue has a local angle, as Brooks, a former Bethlehem firefighter, has criticized the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB) provisions during an appearance on the progressive ‘Meidas Touch’ podcast in May. Brooks said that ‘Donald Trump just did it here [in Pennsylvania]. He was up at the [Mount Airy] casino. But literally, he brought a guy up on stage and claimed he was a fireman and profiting from the no-tax-on-overtime, which 90 percent of our guys didn’t get the benefit from anyways, but the guy wasn’t a paid fireman,’ referring to a Stroudsburg-area first responder whom Trump introduced at a Mount Pocono rally in December.

The IAFF came out in support of Republicans’ tax policies that included the elimination of levies on qualified overtime pay. ‘Firefighters and emergency medical workers shouldn’t be penalized for choosing a career in public service,’ IAFF president Edward Kelly previously told the New York Post. Kelly called the new overtime rule a ‘needed fix’ for his 350,000 members whose jobs demand ‘long hours.’

Response from Brooks’ Campaign

A spokesperson for Brooks said the Democrat ‘ran into burning buildings for 20 years [and] knows what hard work is, and he knows that first responders deserve to keep more of their hard-earned money.’ The spokesperson said Brooks does support ‘no tax on overtime’ and ‘no tax on tips,’ saying that instead it is Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, R-Pa.; his opponent; who doesn’t understand the issue.

Original reporting: Fox News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.