Senate GOP claiming transparency in tax bill
Bloomberg News
WASHINGTON –– Republican senators defended the late-night, early-morning debate and vote on their tax bill after criticism from Democrats that the bill’s final version incorporated multibillion-dollar changes madewith little discussion.
“There’s no hide-the-ball here,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.” “This is an openprocess.”
Just before 2 a.m. Saturday, the Senate voted 51-49 to approve a revised bill that would cut the corporate tax rate to 20 percent from 35 percent in 2019, and would provide temporary tax cuts for individuals that would expire in 2026. House and Senate lawmakers will now have to reconcile differences in their bills before the legislation can go to President Donald Trump for his signature.
That process will begin Monday.Republicans insist they will pass a final versionof the tax legislation for Mr. Trump to sign before Christmas, and Mr. McConnell projected confidence Sunday. At the same time, Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., said on Fox’s “Sunday Morning Futures” that the bill could be on Mr. Trump’s desk “within 10 days.”
And even Democrats acknowledged that in getting the tax legislation through the Senate, Republicans had gotten the toughest part over, given their failures in that chamber thus far this year on their other headline issue, repealing the AffordableCare Act.
“We’ll be able to get to an agreement,” Mr. McConnell said Sunday. “I’m very optimistic about it. And we think this will make a big difference in getting our economy moving again and providing jobs and opportunity for the American people.”
The Senate bill reflected several changes, inserted only a few hours before the final vote, that were designed to shore up Republican senators’ support –– including a handwritten provision that Democratic senators have derided as illegible.
“This was Swamp 101 — the process on Friday night where the bill was being hand-drafted, lots of provisions were being added for special interests,” Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” His comment was a reference to Mr. Trump’s criticisms of lobbyists’ influence over Washington policymaking. Mr. Trump has pledged to supporters to “drainthe swamp.”
A spokeswoman for Mr. McConnell said Sunday that the handwritten provision, which appears on page 257 of the bill and involves the rules for changing a business’ tax designation, was written by a Senate staffer, not by lobbyists.
Legislative language for the current bill was released on the evening of Nov. 20 and the full Senate vote was taken a little over 11 days later.
The changes, including provisions to preserve a limited property-tax deduction for individuals and to expand a tax break for owners of partnerships, limited liability companies and other pass-through businesses, would add more than $30 billion to the bill’s 10-year cost, according to an analysis released by Congress’ nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation.