Senate Republicans steamed toward passage of a $1.4 trillion tax bill today, overcoming eleventh-hour hitches in their drive to deliver a major legislative accomplishment to President Donald Trump by Christmas.
“We have the votes,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said after a closed-door meeting of Republican senators.
One prior holdout, Republican Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona, announced that he would support the bill. Another, Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, said on Twitter she was “delighted” she’d won an agreement from leaders to add a $10,000 deduction for local property taxes and was considered all but certain to back the measure.
With the party controlling the Senate 52-48 and Democrats uniformly opposed, Republicans need 50 votes to win approval for the bill. Vice President Mike Pence would break a tie.
In a flurry of last minute deal-making to win over votes, GOP leaders also agreed to more generous tax breaks for millions of businesses. Companies whose owners pay taxes on profits using individual tax rates would be allowed larger deductions than the original bill, and the legislation’s phase-out of tax breaks for companies buying equipment would be slowed.
A GOP summary obtained by The Associated Press showed that to pay for the changes, the new plan would scale back several tax cuts.
