Republicans are struggling to win over resistant Republican senators to a sweeping tax bill that US President Donald Trump and their party have set as a vital political goal.
Trump, who has assured lawmakers there will be changes, was headed yesterday to Capitol Hill to personally lobby Republican senators.
Senate Republican leaders hope to pass the bill this week.
Anxious to pass a tax overhaul package by year’s end with an eye toward next year’s elections, Trump and the Republican leaders on Monday scrambled to make changes to the Senate version to woo the Republican holdouts.
Republicans have only two votes to spare in the Senate, where they hold a 52-48 edge and anticipate US Vice President Mike Pence breaking a tie if needed.
Senate Republicans indicated they still had a way to go to secure the votes.
“We’re making progress, minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day. But we’re not there yet,’’ said US Senator John Cornyn, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate.
Among the holdouts are deficit hawks who worry that tax cuts for businesses and individuals would add to the nation’s mounting US$20 trillion debt, small business advocates who say the bill does not cut those companies’ taxes enough and others with reservations.
That means Trump and the Republican leaders have to balance competing demands.
While some resistant senators fear the package’s debt consequences, others want more generous tax breaks for smaller businesses.
The overall tax package blends a sharp reduction in top corporate and business tax rates with more modest relief for individuals.
To mollify the deficit hawks, the Senate Republican leaders are considering a “trigger” that would automatically increase taxes if the legislation fails to generate as much revenue as they expect.
The Republican leaders’ efforts came as a second Republican senator, Steve Daines, on Monday said that he opposes the tax bill in its current form.
Previously, US Senator Ron Johnson said he opposed the bill, leaving the Republicans no room for error.
The two men complained that the bill favors large corporations over small businesses.
A new estimate by congressional analysts says the Senate tax bill would add US$1.4 trillion to the budget deficit over the next decade, but Republican leaders dispute the projection, saying tax cuts would spur economic growth, reducing the hit on the deficit.
However, many economists disagree with such optimistic projections.
The trigger would be a way for senators to test their economic assumptions, with real consequences if they are wrong.
US Senator Bob Corker said the Trump administration and the Senate leaders are open to some kind of a trigger to increase revenues if the tax plan falls short.
“Very possible,” Corker said when asked if he might vote “no” in the Senate Budget Committee yesterday to formally send the tax bill to the Senate floor, if the revenue issue is not settled.
“It’s important for me to know we’ve got this resolved,” he said.
Whatever the Senate passes must be reconciled with the House of Representatives’ version of the tax bill.
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