Senate Republicans on Wednesday plan to advance a $1.4 trillion tax cut bill by voting to begin debate on the measure that looks likely to pass in the coming days.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., adjourned the Senate Tuesday night without setting a firm time for the vote. But Republicans said the plan was to vote on a motion to proceed to the bill Wednesday.
But Republicans were still making changes to the bill Tuesday to shore up enough support for final passage of their tax code overhaul, even after they got a boost when two GOP holdouts helped advance the bill out of the Senate Budget Committee.
Other potential “no” votes seem now to be leaning yes, thanks to promised changes, and both GOP leaders and President Trump are optimistic that passage, as early as this week, is imminent.
“I think it’s going to pass,” Trump said during a White House meeting with McConnell and Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis. “It’s going to have lots of adjustments before then.”
Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., have been seeking changes to the bill but voted with the rest of their GOP colleagues to clear the measure out of the Budget Committee, which is the final step before floor consideration begins.
Corker, a deficit hawk, said he received assurances from President Trump that the measure will include a mechanism to raise revenue if economic growth does not increase as predicted with the big tax cuts.
Johnson is still undecided about whether he will vote to begin debate on the measure, but he is under intense pressure from GOP lawmakers to not block the bill.
“After agreeing in principle with Senate leadership, members of the finance committee, and the administration on a trigger mechanism to ensure greater fiscal responsibility should economic growth estimates not be realized, I voted today to advance this important piece of legislation,” Corker said. “While we are still working to finalize the details, I am encouraged by our discussions.”
Meanwhile, other undecided Republicans appear more likely to back the measure, in part because they received assurances from President Trump when he visited the Capitol on Tuesday.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, joined two other GOP senators in a private meeting with Trump, where she said he appeared open to supporting a measure to add additional funding for Obamacare insurers to help cover the most expensive customers in an effort to lower premiums.
Collins has been concerned with a provision in the tax bill that will repeal the Obamacare mandate, which analysts say will raise health insurance premiums because fewer people will sign up for plans.
Collins said she is also receiving assurances from Republicans that they will consider including a $10,000 deduction for state and local property taxes. In current form, the plan eliminates the state and local deduction for income and property taxes.
But other holdouts await changes.
Sen. Steve Daines, R-Montana, like Johnson, is seeking an expansion of tax cuts for small businesses. Sens. Jeff Flake and John McCain, both Arizona Republicans, say they are undecided.
