Senate Republicans’ $1.4 trillion tax bill was narrowly passed out of the Budget Committee in a party-line vote, clearing its final hurdle before what will likely be contentious consideration in the full upper chamber.
As with its passage earlier this month out of the Senate Finance Committee, the legislation was approved by the budget panel on Tuesday in a 12-11 vote, without first holding a hearing on its impact.
The committee’s ranking member, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) lashed out at the hastiness with which the bill was being considered.
“This is one of the most important pieces of legislation to come before this committee in recent years, and I have to tell you that I am extremely disappointed that you have allocated only 15 minutes for debate,” Sanders said.
“That is wrong and it is wrong that the budget committee has not yet held a single hearing on this tax bill — not one,” the Senator added.
Sanders went on to call the tax cut proposal “disastrous and unfair.” He cited a recent CBO analysis of the plan, which found that due to the repeal of the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate and the expiration of other provisions, the bill would actually increase taxes on millions of middle class Americans.
Sanders went on to note that further analysis of the legislation shows that 62 percent of the tax benefits would flow to just the top 1 percent of Americans.
Though Republicans have been intent on legislating with speed, Tuesday’s markup was interrupted by protestors. Committee chairman Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY) briefly delayed the hearing while Capitol Police officers cleared dissenters from the room.
During the roll call vote, however, multiple individuals could be heard shouting over Senators with chants of “kill the bill” and “stop the tax scam.”
The legislation could be considered in the full Senate as early as next week. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) can only afford two Republican defections in order to secure passage of the bill through reconciliation.
Sens. Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Steve Daines (R-MT) already expressed reservations about supporting the bill, saying they wanted more tax cuts for businesses included.
Johnson, however, supported the measure in Tuesday’s committee vote. Daines is not on the Senate Budget Committee.
Truthout Is Preparing to Meet Trump’s Agenda With Resistance at Every Turn
Dear Truthout Community,
If you feel rage, despondency, confusion and deep fear today, you are not alone. We’re feeling it too. We are heartsick. Facing down Trump’s fascist agenda, we are desperately worried about the most vulnerable people among us, including our loved ones and everyone in the Truthout community, and our minds are racing a million miles a minute to try to map out all that needs to be done.
We must give ourselves space to grieve and feel our fear, feel our rage, and keep in the forefront of our mind the stark truth that millions of real human lives are on the line. And simultaneously, we’ve got to get to work, take stock of our resources, and prepare to throw ourselves full force into the movement.
Journalism is a linchpin of that movement. Even as we are reeling, we’re summoning up all the energy we can to face down what’s coming, because we know that one of the sharpest weapons against fascism is publishing the truth.
There are many terrifying planks to the Trump agenda, and we plan to devote ourselves to reporting thoroughly on each one and, crucially, covering the movements resisting them. We also recognize that Trump is a dire threat to journalism itself, and that we must take this seriously from the outset.
Last week, the four of us sat down to have some hard but necessary conversations about Truthout under a Trump presidency. How would we defend our publication from an avalanche of far right lawsuits that seek to bankrupt us? How would we keep our reporters safe if they need to cover outbreaks of political violence, or if they are targeted by authorities? How will we urgently produce the practical analysis, tools and movement coverage that you need right now — breaking through our normal routines to meet a terrifying moment in ways that best serve you?
It will be a tough, scary four years to produce social justice-driven journalism. We need to deliver news, strategy, liberatory ideas, tools and movement-sparking solutions with a force that we never have had to before. And at the same time, we desperately need to protect our ability to do so.
We know this is such a painful moment and donations may understandably be the last thing on your mind. But we must ask for your support, which is needed in a new and urgent way.
We promise we will kick into an even higher gear to give you truthful news that cuts against the disinformation and vitriol and hate and violence. We promise to publish analyses that will serve the needs of the movements we all rely on to survive the next four years, and even build for the future. We promise to be responsive, to recognize you as members of our community with a vital stake and voice in this work.
Please dig deep if you can, but a donation of any amount will be a truly meaningful and tangible action in this cataclysmic historical moment.
We’re with you. Let’s do all we can to move forward together.
With love, rage, and solidarity,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy