Nov. 29 (UPI) — The Senate on Wednesday voted to move ahead with debate on the Republican plan to overhaul the U.S. tax code, opening the legislation up for possible amendments, including a trigger that could reduce tax cuts.
Senators voted 52-48 to begin debate on the legislation one day after the Senate Committee on the Budget gave its approval. All Republicans voted in favor of debate, despite reservation from some on whether they’ll give their final approval to the bill.
While no Republican senators have said they definitely will not vote for the bill, at least eight said they have concerns about the legislation in its current form.
Sens. Bob Corker of Tennessee and James Lankford of Oklahoma proposed the idea of inserting a trigger into the legislation that would automatically increase taxes by up to $350 billion over 10 years if federal revenue dropped below an established threshold. The size of the tax increase would correspond to the amount of the federal revenue shortfall, people familiar with the mechanism told Bloomberg.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said senators will have a chance to propose such changes during debate.
“I encourage any member who thinks that we need to fix the problems of our outdated tax code to vote to proceed to the legislation,” he said prior to the procedural vote. “I urge them to vote for the motion to proceed and offer their amendments. …The bottom line is this: we must vote to begin debate.”
Earlier Wednesday, President Donald Trump traveled to Missouri to push the tax plan, touting the benefits it will have for small-town America.
Trump said the proposed bill would be “the biggest tax cut in the history of our country, bigger than [President Ronald] Reagan.”
“We’re going to make sure that you take more of your hard earned money,” he added.
Trump said the American tax code is a “total dysfunctional mess” and that he wants to close loopholes that benefit some people, like himself.
“This is not good for me,” he said. “Me, and some very wealthy friends, not good for me.”
