The Senate voted 51-48 along party lines to pass the sweeping $1.5 trillion GOP tax bill a little after midnight Tuesday, leaving only the House to re-vote, likely on Wednesday morning, after it was discovered that several minor provisions in the legislation were in violation of Senate rules - requiring they be stripped from the bill.
As Senator John Kennedy notably said on Tuesday "somebody screwed up."
Watch here:
BREAKING: Senate votes 51-48 along strict party lines to pass a $1.5 trillion tax bill, sending the updated bill back to the House to re-vote on the measure Wednesday morning. pic.twitter.com/C2KDQecUyc
NBC News (@NBCNews)
The United States Senate just passed the biggest in history Tax Cut and Reform Bill. Terrible Individual Mandate (ObamaCare)Repealed. Goes to the House tomorrow morning for final vote. If approved, there will be a News Conference at The White House at approximately 1:00 P.M.
Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)
In addition to lowering the corporate tax rate to 21% to 35%, Town Hall's Guy Benson noted yesterday that over 80% of Americans will see their taxes reduced under the bill according to the left-leaning Tax Policy Center, and the "losers" are limited to just 5% (largely upper income filers from high-tax blue states). "And no," Benson writes, "the "one-percenter" rich Twitter
benefit from the cuts." Furthermore, the bill eliminates the Affordable Care Act's penalty for Americans who don't purchase insurance.
BREAKING: The Senate has passed the GOP tax reform bill, 51-48.
Nonpartisan analysts have determined that the proposal will cut taxes for 80+% of Americans, drastically improve our globally-uncompetitive corporate tax rate, grow GDP & create jobs. Every Democrat voted no.
Guy Benson (@guypbenson)
The average tax cut will be $1,600, according to TPC's data (Republicans cite a different statistic: A tax cut of more than $2,000 for a median income family of four). Let those numbers marinate for a moment. We've been caught in a blizzard of misinformation claiming that this bill hurts the middle class. But even the Republican-hostile Tax Policy Center couldn't escape the empirical conclusion that 80 percent of all Americans will see their taxes reduced under the bill. -Town Hall
TPC conference report:
Bottom 80% currently pays 33% of all federal income taxes, but gets 35% of the tax cuts.
Top 1% currently pays 27% of all federal taxes, but gets 21% of the tax cuts.
So the share of all federal taxes paid by wealthy will rise.https://t.co/F4805lVSo6
Brian Riedl (@Brian_Riedl)
As previously discussed, several minor provisions in the bill were stripped ahead of the Senate vote. According to NBC, One of those provisions would allow 529 savings accounts, which are now used for college tuition, to help finance home schooling. Another would exempt a small tuition-free college in Kentucky from a new tax on endowments.
Democrats roundly opposed bill, calling it a boon to the wealthy while offering little for the middle class. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) called it "the worst bill to ever come to the floor of the House." Moreover, several protesters showed up to Congress on Tuesday at both the House and the Senate votes - shouting "Kill the bill. Don't kill us!"
Protestors in the House Chamber shouting "Kill the bill, don't kill us!"
The #GOPTaxScam takes health coverage from 13 million Americans. #Shame https://t.co/7gtz9lqHK1 pic.twitter.com/huGIo4VMNR
CAP Action (@CAPAction)
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was in a good mood Tuesday night, telling the press "The president will have delivered the most significant tax cut in the history of the nation," adding "We will look forward to signing it, hopefully in the next couple of days." Sanders also hit back at claims that the bill would personally benefit President Trump, stating "certainly, on the personal side, could cost the president a lot of money."
Today, the Senate delivered on its promise of allowing Americans to keep more of their hard-earned money, a commitment I worked to hold it to by fighting to make sure the bill became a bigger and better tax cut and included repeal of the Obamacare individual mandate.
Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul)
