Live: Senate Republicans Say They Have Votes to Pass Tax Bill

The Senate is making last minute changes to the tax overhaul bill after failing to get it across the line Thursday night. We’ll keep you in the know with the latest developments.

• There have been a lot of discussions about how to reduce the forecasted deficit that may be created by tax cuts. At one point, Republicans were considering sunsetting some of the corporate tax cuts, making them officially temporary much like some of the individual tax cuts. But this raised concerns that it could stifle potential economic growth by creating too much uncertainty. Right now the bill would permanently cut the corporate tax to 20 percent but delay the rate reduction by one year, so it would take effect in 2019.
• The role of Flake and Corker in the tax overhaul is causing consternation among fellow Republican Senators. Both Flake and Corker have said they are not running for office, making them immune to political fallout if the tax bill fails to pass. Senators who are not giving up their seats began to balk last night at “the huge influence guys who aren’t answerable to voters” were having on the process, according to one senior Republican staffer.
• Until late last night, it appeared that Flake and Corker had found a way to vote for the bill. They had planned to include in the bill a “fiscal trigger” that would raise taxes if economic growth fell short of forecasts or budget deficits exceeded expectations. That idea was widely criticized as impractical and perhaps dangerous, since it risked raising taxes amid an economic downturn. It died Thursday night when the Senate parliamentarian said it could not be passed by a simple majority. That unexpected turn cast into doubt the support of Corker and Flake, prompting Senate leaders to call off plans to vote Thursday night.
• The Senate Majority whip, John Cornyn, says he has the votes to pass the bill. His job is to count and marshal votes for Republican measures.
• So where does the vote count stand? As of Thursday morning, the possible GOP holdouts included John McCain of Arizona, Susan Collins of Maine, Steve Daines of Montana, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Bob Corker of Tennessee, and Jeff Flake of Arizona. That left the GOP, which has a 52 seat majority in the Senate, possibly 4 votes short of passing the bill. McCain said he would vote for the bill Thursday evening. Daines and Johnson signed on Friday morning. Corker and Flake are likely still no votes as their concerns about the budget deficits projected to be created by the tax cuts have not been resolved. Collins said on Friday morning that she has not decided. By our math, that leaves the GOP 1 vote short of 50.
• The trade-off for the higher pass-through deduction will be a higher rate on repatriated foreign profits, CNBC reports.
• The Senate returned to consider the tax bill at 10 a.m. on Friday. Senate Republican leaders are confident they have enough votes to pass the measure but are making adjustments in hopes of winning all 52 GOP votes.
• The Wall Street Journal reports that an aide to Ron Johnson of Wisconsin says he is now a yes vote.
• Senator Steve Daines announced his support for the bill early Friday morning. The pass-through deduction, a major concern for Senators Daines and Ron Johnson, has  been moved to 23 percent from 17.4 percent, according to CNBC.