Republicans will try to win over Democrats on tax reform

The Trump administration and congressional Republicans are still contemplating ways to reach 60 votes in the Senate for tax reform legislation, a goal that would require a time-intensive outreach to Democrats even as they are pressed for time this year.

Such an effort would be an alternative to the plan long favored by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of proceeding through the budget process known as reconciliation, which would allow them to bypass a filibuster and pass a bill with only a bare majority in the Senate. That route gives the GOP a shot at ramming through a partisan rewrite of the tax code, or even the temporary straight tax cut that some conservatives want.