The GOP tax plan cleared its first major hurdle in the Senate Wednesday afternoon, after a motion to proceed to amendments passed on a 52-48 party line vote.
The bill will now be debated on the floor, with Republicans scrambling to solidify their caucus’s support for the bill in the face of unanimous Democratic opposition.
“Passing tax reform is the single most important thing we can do right now to shift the economy into high gear and deliver much-needed relief to American families,” Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said before the vote, urging his colleagues to vote “yes” on the motion.
McConnell’s work is far from over: several key Republican senators, such as Bob Corker of Tennessee, Susan Collins of Maine, and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, are still on the fence about the tax package. But the fact that no Republicans broke ranks on Wednesday’s motion shows that each senator is still on board with the project of tax reform and envisions a final product they could support. That’s more that Republicans could achieve on their last attempt to repeal Obamacare this summer, which died when McConnell couldn’t find 50 votes on a similar motion to proceed.
“Today we’re another step closer to reforming the nation’s antiquated, complex tax code for the first time in more than three decades,” Sen. John Cornyn said in a statement.
President Donald Trump gave a speech boosting the package in Missouri Wednesday afternoon, casting the bill as a middle-class tax break that would actually hurt the rich.
“This is not good for me. I have some very wealthy friends who are not so happy with me, but that’s okay,” Trump said, shrugging. “We’re also going to eliminate tax breaks and complex loopholes taken advantage of by the wealthy… I think my accountants are going crazy.”
The White House is pressuring the Senate to pass their version of the package by the end of the week.
