WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Friday that Republicans have the votes to pass the GOP tax bill, after Sen. Jeff Flake said he will support the legislation.
“We have the votes,” the Kentucky Republican told reporters on the Senate floor shortly before noon, adding that a final vote on the plan would take place some time on Friday.
Moments later, Flake, an Arizona Republican who is not running for re-election next year, issued a statement saying that the bill, which had been revised numerous times, now met his “objectives.”
Among other things, Flake said he was pleased that he had now received a commitment on legislation that would protect DACA recipients.
Later in the day, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said that “after securing significant changes” — including restoring the state and local property tax deduction and getting a commitment from McConnell to support two bills that would stabilize health insurance markets — she would support the tax bill, too.
In getting to “yes,” Flake and Collins joined Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., who earlier Friday rallied behind the tax legislation.
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On Friday evening, a motion by Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to adjourn the vote until Monday — to give senators more time to read the bill, which was riddled with handwritten notes — was voted down along party lines 48-52.
Prior to Friday morning, the three GOP senators had been among their party’s holdouts on the bill. Their support now gives McConnell a pathway to passage, possibly later Friday.
Johnson’s “yes” came after the legislation hit a $1 trillion snag and spent the night in limbo.
A Joint Taxation Committee score Thursday found that even with the slight economic growth spurred by the bill, the tax cuts would still add $1 trillion to the deficit, and Senate rules foiled the addition of a “trigger” mechanism that would have hiked taxes should economic growth fall short.
Flake, Johnson, and Collins, as well as Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, had earlier held back support, expressing concerns about the deficit, deductions for state and local taxes and over how certain small businesses, known as “pass-throughs,” would be taxed under the bill.
Corker, however, said Friday afternoon that he would not support the bill, citing his remaining concerns over its impact on the deficit.
“I wanted to get to yes. But at the end of the day, I am not able to cast aside my fiscal concerns and vote for legislation that I believe, based on the information I currently have, could deepen the debt burden on future generations,” he said in a statement.
But even without his vote, McConnell seemed to have 51 votes, barring no unforeseen additional GOP defections.
On Friday morning, Johnsonsaid he’d support the bill after securing more favorable treatment for pass-through entities — small companies that pay taxes through the returns of their individual owner.
Following Johnson’s move, a senior White House source told NBC News that the administration was “cautiously optimistic” the tax plan would pass the Senate, heading to negotiations between the House and Senate on final legislation that would be sent to President Donald Trump for his signature.
The White House has been pushing hard to accomplish a tax overhaul before Christmas in order to give the president a much-needed first year win after a number of failed attempts to repeal and replace Obamacare. The tax bill also repeals the individual mandate, a key part of the health care law, as well as the tax credits that help low-income Americans pay for insurance.
“The Bill is getting better and better. This is a once in a generation chance. Obstructionist Dems trying to block because they think it is too good and will not be given the credit!” Trump tweeted Friday morning.
The legislation would bring the first overhaul of the U.S. tax code in 31 years. It would slash the corporate tax rate, offer more modest cuts for families and individuals, and eliminate several popular deductions.
Trump and GOP lawmakers have repeatedly touted the bill as a boon for the middle class, despite several independent analyses that found it’s skewed toward corporations and the wealthy. Two-thirds of middle-class earners would see tax increases, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center.