Hectic Week in Congress

Republicans Set to Pass Signature Tax Reform Legislation

A number of U.S. Senate Republicans left lunch with President Trump optimistic about the future of their tax legislation, on which they hope to vote this week. The Senate Budget Committee voted to approve the legislation, but the full Senate vote will likely take place later this week. Assuming that every Democrat in the Senate votes against the tax bill, the Republican Party needs to make sure almost every Republican votes in favor of the bill.

Holding 52 out of 100 seats in the Senate, the Republican Party (which also holds the tie-breaking vote in Vice President Mike Pence) cannot win unless they address the concerns of the few Republican senators who previously opposed the bill in its current form. Fortunately for the Republican Party, a number of the Republicans in the Senate who initially opposed the bill believe that their concerns are now being addressed, including Tennessee Senator Bob Corker.

Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer and Democratic Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi boycotted a meeting with Trump as a result of a tweet that President Trump wrote against them. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders criticized the boycott, stating that their actions exhibited “pettiness.”

If the tax bill is not passed by December 8, the U.S. will face a government shutdown, and the American public will likely blame the Democrats because they did not attend the meeting with President Trump.