By Kristina Peterson and Richard Rubin
WASHINGTON -- Senate Republicans are expected to adopt their
budget proposal later Thursday, marking an important step in the
GOP push to overhaul the tax code.
The vote on the Senate Republican budget blueprint, anticipated
Thursday night, will come at the end of a blitz of amendment votes
Democrats are using to drive home their argument that the GOP tax
rewrite will benefit the country's wealthiest citizens at the
expense of the middle class.
"Republicans are going for the big Budget approval today, first
step toward massive tax cuts. I think we have the votes, but who
knows?" President Donald Trump tweeted Thursday morning.
Senate GOP lawmakers and aides, however, said they were
confident they had enough votes to pass their budget. Mr. Trump
later said the budget had sufficient support.
Republicans cheered the expected passage of their budget
blueprint for fiscal year 2018, whose primary importance is to pave
the way for the next step in the GOP effort to rewrite the tax
code.
"The only thing about this that matters is preparation for tax
reform," Sen. Bob Corker (R., Tenn.), a member of the Senate Budget
Committee. "Other than that ... it has no impact on anything
whatsoever affecting the American people."
Budget resolutions are nonbinding and don't have to be signed by
the president. They are generally a reflection of parties'
priorities and are separate from the spending bills that actually
fund the government. This year, the budget's biggest role is to
unlock a procedural shortcut that will enable Republicans to try to
pass a subsequent tax overhaul without Democratic votes.
Republicans used a similar process to try to dismantle the
Affordable Care Act, but came up short in the Senate.
Republican leaders need only a simple majority to approve the
budget in the Senate, where most legislation needs 60 votes to
clear procedural hurdles. In the event of a tie, Vice President
Mike Pence would cast the deciding vote. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky
may be the sole GOP defector on the budget, which he said doesn't
do enough to curb federal spending. All Democrats are expected to
oppose it.
Democrats are using the flurry of amendment votes offered under
the budget process to hammer home their message that the GOP tax
proposal isn't aimed at the middle class. Republicans have yet to
release tax legislation, but the framework they unveiled last month
would sharply reduce tax rates on businesses and many individuals,
which the GOP has said will boost economic growth, benefiting
middle-income families. The tax plan so far is vague on crucial
details for individuals.
Amendments tied to the budget are largely symbolic, but the
votes provide early indications of how pivotal senators view tax
policy and could vote when the actual tax bill hits the Senate
floor.
Democrats brought up amendments forcing Republicans to vote on
some of the less popular tax provisions they are currently
discussing. For example, an amendment from Democratic Sens. Maria
Cantwell of Washington and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland forced a
vote on whether to bar a tax rewrite from ending or limiting the
federal deduction for state and local taxes. House Republicans are
considering abolishing the popular deduction, but may preserve part
of it. The Senate blocked the amendment Thursday on a procedural
motion in a party-line vote.
Democrats also used amendment votes to highlight that the Senate
GOP budget allows for the package of tax changes and rate cuts to
add up to $1.5 trillion to the federal budget deficit over 10
years.
"After eight years of crowing about debts and deficits under a
Democratic president, the Republican deficit hawks seem to have
flown the coop," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.)
said on the Senate floor Thursday.
Republicans countered that they expect their tax cuts to boost
economic growth, ultimately creating more revenue flowing to the
federal government. Republicans plan to cut tax rates for
individuals and businesses, but they haven't filled in many details
yet. They say they plan to do that after the House and Senate agree
on a budget. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R., Utah), chairman of the Finance
Committee, said he hoped to release his tax plan by early
November.
"Deficits matter and the taxes that we address ought to be about
growing the economy that actually do create more revenues toward
reducing the deficit," said Sen. Jerry Moran (R., Kan.)
Given Republicans' narrow 52-48 Senate majority, the absence
early this week of Sen. Thad Cochran (R., Miss.) created some
questions over whether Senate GOP leaders would have enough support
to pass the budget. But Mr. Cochran, who had been recovering from
health issues in Mississippi, returned to the Senate on
Wednesday.
"We've got the walking wounded all coming back to vote," Sen.
Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) said.
Mr. Graham acknowledged that passing sweeping tax legislation
will be far challenging than approving a budget. "We're at the
bottom of the mountain and we've got to keep climbing to the top,"
he said.
The House has passed its own, different budget, which will need
to be reconciled with the Senate version. White House aides and
some Senate Republicans have been urging the House to simply take
up the Senate budget and pass it, so the party can expedite the tax
bill.
Senators were working on amendment late Thursday that would
enable the House to quickly accept much of the substance of the
Senate budget. The amendment is likely to be technical in nature,
and the House could still choose to go to a conference meeting to
iron out the details, said a person familiar with the
discussions.
Write to Kristina Peterson at kristina.peterson@wsj.com and
Richard Rubin at richard.rubin@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 19, 2017 17:38 ET (21:38 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.