From “Crumbs” to Credit: Susie Lee’s Shameless No Tax on Tips Rebrand

Democrat Susie Lee is once again trying to present herself as a champion of “No Tax on Tips,” even after voting against the Republican-backed tax package that delivered the policy for Nevada workers.

Lee posted that she is cosponsoring the TIPS Act, claiming the bill would make No Tax on Tips permanent while eliminating the subminimum wage. But Republicans immediately accused the vulnerable Nevada Democrat of attempting a political cleanup job after opposing the Working Families Tax Cuts package, which included No Tax on Tips and No Tax on Overtime relief.

The timing is no mystery. No Tax on Tips has become one of the most popular tax policies in Nevada, where tipped workers make up more than 5 percent of the state’s workforce. Under the policy, eligible workers can deduct up to $25,000 in tips, while White House data has also shown No Tax on Overtime benefits roughly 20 percent of the workforce.

That makes Lee’s original vote a major political problem.

After voting against the broader tax package, Lee dismissed its working-family relief as “temporary crumbs for working families in Southern Nevada.” Now that the policy is delivering tangible benefits for bartenders, servers, casino workers, valets, hotel staff, and hospitality employees, Republicans say Lee is trying to rewrite the record and pretend she was on board all along.

The NRCC  has already hammered Lee over the issue. Earlier this year, Republicans called her out after she went on local television discussing No Tax on Tips, accusing her of pretending she “led the charge” despite voting against the legislation that made the policy law.

Lee was also part of broader reporting from NOTUS on Democrats who voted against Republicans’ sweeping tax law but later celebrated popular provisions tucked inside it. The report underscored a growing problem for Democrats: they attacked the bill when Republicans passed it, but have struggled to distance themselves from provisions that voters actually like. 

Republican Marty O’Donnell, Lee’s opponent in Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District, blasted her on social media, writing: “You voted AGAINST No Tax on Tips, No Tax on Overtime, No Tax on Social Security, and in favor of raising taxes on every single person in the state of Nevada.”

NRCC Spokesman Christian Martinez also piled on, accusing Lee of trying to slap her name on a policy she opposed once it became politically popular.

“Cut the bullshit, @SusieLeeNV. You voted NO on the bill that actually delivered no tax on tips for Nevada workers and called it crumbs. Now that it’s popular, you’re scrambling to slap your name on it and act like you’re the hero. Pathetic. Nevadans see right through you,” Martinez wrote.

The fight is especially potent because No Tax on Tips was born as a Nevada issue. President Donald Trump made the promise in Las Vegas during the 2024 campaign, and the proposal quickly became a defining economic message in a state built on service, tourism, gaming, and hospitality.

Lee can cosponsor new legislation, issue press releases, or post on social media, but she cannot erase the fact that when Congress considered the bill that actually delivered relief to Nevada workers, she opposed it.

And in a district President Trump carried in 2024, Republicans are betting voters will remember who delivered No Tax on Tips and who only tried to claim credit after the political winds shifted.

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