The Senate has finally gotten the support of Ron Johnson and Steve Daines for the Senate tax bill:
CNBC – Sens. Steve Daines, R-Mont., and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., will vote for the Senate Republican tax bill after securing further tax relief for pass-through businesses.
The support from the senators, two of the last GOP holdouts on the bill, nudges Republicans closer to passing the plan on Friday. Republicans are reworking their bill after a last-minute setback and hope to pass it later in the day.
“After weeks of fighting for Main Street businesses including Montana’s farmers and ranchers, I’ve decided to support the Senate tax cut bill which provides significant tax relief for Main Street businesses,” Daines said, in a statement.
He reached an agreement with leadership to raise the amount of pass-through income business owners can deduct. The deduction will go to 23 percent from 17.4 percent in the original Senate bill. The change would drop the effective rate on pass-through entities below 30 percent, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The GOP has already secured support from two other key votes: Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska.
Who is left? Of course two of Trump’s favorite Senators as well as Susan Collins and James Lankford:
Republican leaders are also scrambling to appease Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and James Lankford, R-Okla., who are concerned about budget deficits generated by tax cuts. A mechanism designed to win their votes was ruled unworkable under Senate rules on Thursday.
The nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation estimated Thursday that the plan would fall $1 trillion short of paying for itself, even after economic growth is taken into account. While GOP Senate leaders like Cornyn and John Thune of South Dakota downplayed the findings, Corker pushed for a way to make up for the budget hole.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, has also not yet committed to backing the bill.
I’m surprised Trump hasn’t tweeted something insulting to Corker and Flake. So far all he’s tweeted today was this:
Republicans Senators are working hard to pass the biggest Tax Cuts in the history of our Country. 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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 1, 2017
Hopefully they come around and we can pass this bill and move on to the next step.