On path to passage, tax bill takes hit
Vote likely Friday; GOP eyes hike to offset deficit spikes
WASHINGTON — The Republican tax plan inched closer to Senate passage Thursday, but encountered new challenges after some dramatic, last-minute negotiations Thursday to win over GOP holdouts concerned about a new congressional analysis that estimated the package would add $1 trillion to the nation’s deficit.
Republicans and the White House need a legislative victory to reflect their first year of control in Washington, and a landmark tax bill — which would dramatically lower the corporate rate and double the standard deduction for individuals — would provide that win.
If passed during a vote now planned for Friday, the sweeping Senate tax bill would next need to be reconciled with a House version, a process leaders hope to expedite in a matter of days. Then the House and Senate would need to pass the revised measure again before sending it to President Donald Trump’s desk.
Yet even many Republicans who support the $1.5 trillion package expressed resignation ahead of the vote, concerned about the cost and details of a package that experts say benefits corporations and the wealthy, and the way the legislation is being rushed through Congress without a broad range of hearings and the usual debate.
At one point Thursday evening, it appeared three Republicans — Sens. Bob Corker of Tennessee, Jeff Flake of Arizona and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin — were considering joining Democrats in a motion to send the bill back to committee, a move that would have almost certainly dashed GOP hopes of passing a bill this year.
The three are worried the tax cuts will pile onto the national debt.
Proponents of the bill promise that the costs, estimated to increase the deficit by $1.5 trillion over 10 years, will be offset by the economic growth spurred by the tax cuts. But even after accounting for such growth, a report released Thursday by the Joint Committee on Taxation estimated that the GOP bill would still increase the deficit by $1 trillion.
Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, who pushed for the report to be released before the vote, said it “ends the fantasy about magical growth and claims the tax cuts pay for themselves.”
Corker had been pushing to include a trigger that would reverse some tax breaks if the economy doesn’t grow enough. But many senators and outside conservative groups opposed the trigger, and under Senate rules, it was determined the provision could not be included in the bill.
After tense, hurried and at times acrimonious negotiations on the Senate floor Thursday, the three men relented, putting the vote back on track. In return, Senate leaders agreed to include a provision, still under debate late Thursday, that would require as much as $350 billion in new taxes at certain points in the future to offset any increase in the deficit.
For much of the day, momentum for the bill had been rising. An endorsement from Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., ended speculation that the self-styled “maverick” Republican could upend his party’s hopes for a year-end accomplishment.
Similarly, support from Sen. Lisa Murkowski, RA laska, and encouraging words from Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, both of whom had joined McCain to oppose the health care bill, gave the bill a boost ahead of voting.
“This is not a perfect bill, but it is one that would deliver much-needed reform to our tax code, grow the economy and help Americans keep more of their hard-earned money,” McCain said.
Just hours before the Senate vote, GOP leaders were still revising it, behind closed doors and without support from Democrats.
Republicans can only lose two votes from their 52-seat majority and still pass the bill with Vice President Mike Pence breaking a tie.
Murkowski came on board after an agreement was reached to include a provision she sought to allow oil and gas drilling in part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Others continued trying to shape the bill as the Senate debated.
“I am not committed to vote for this bill,” Collins said at a breakfast meeting with reporters. “But I am encouraged.”
The package would slash corporate rates to 20 percent, a level not seen since the Great Depression, and initially reduce individual brackets, though studies show the benefits will flow mainly to wealthier Americans rather than lower- and middle-income households.
The corporate rates would become permanent, while the individual rate cuts would expire in 2025.
“My new rule is: The faster a bill goes through, the worse it is,” said Sen. Angus King, the Maine independent who offered the amendment to send the bill back to committee.
“The process is preposterous. The bill is terrible,” he said.