WASHINGTON--Congressional Republicans hit a last-minute snag on Tuesday in their drive to pass the biggest U.S. tax overhaul in 30 years, requiring them to hold another vote on Wednesday and delaying what was still likely to be their first major legislative win under President Donald Trump.
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed the tax package on Tuesday afternoon and sent it to the Republican-led Senate. But a staff official there ruled that three provisions of the House bill did not comply with the Senate's complex rules, said Independent Senator Bernie Sanders.
As of early evening, the plan was for the Senate to delete the three offending provisions and vote on the bill. If approved, as widely expected, the altered bill would be sent back to the House for another vote on Wednesday. Final approval there would send the bill to Trump to sign into law.
Democrats seized on the embarrassing stumble as evidence of the Republicans' rushed, secretive development of the bill. “The House revote is the latest evidence of just how shoddily written the GOP tax scam really is," House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said in a statement.
The problematic provisions deal with using educational savings accounts for home schooling and with private university endowments. The Senate parliamentarian disqualified them on procedural grounds, throwing a wrench into what would have been a day of celebration for Republicans and for Trump.
"Listen, people screw up. A member of the staff screwed up. It’s not the end of Western civilization. We have the votes today; we'll have them tomorrow," Republican Senator John Kennedy told MSNBC on Tuesday evening.
White House legislative affairs director Marc Short, commenting on the need for a House revote, said: "I don’t think it’s that uncommon for a big piece of legislation like this.”
The bill's major components include steep tax cuts for corporations and wealthy taxpayers, a revamp of how the United States taxes multinational companies, and a new tax deduction for the owners of "pass-through" businesses, ranging from mom-and-pop stores to large real estate and financial enterprises. It offers temporary tax rate cuts for some individuals and families, while reducing sharply the number of Americans who itemize deductions on their tax returns and cutting back the number and scope of available deductions.
In its first vote, the House passed the bill by 227-203, overcoming united opposition from Democrats, who blasted the bill as a giveaway to corporations and the wealthy. Republicans insist the package will boost the economy and job growth. They see the measure as crucial to defending their majorities in the House and Senate in congressional elections coming in November 2018.
But 12 Republicans voted against it, including 11 from New York, California and New Jersey, all high-tax states where affluent homeowners could be hurt by the bill's new limits on deducting state and local taxes. “I voted against the tax bill today because it significantly reduces the ability of New Jerseyans to deduct state and local taxes," Republican Representative Leonard Lance said in a statement, adding he also had concerns about its impact on the federal deficit and the mounting, $20 trillion national debt.
In a shift for a party once dominated by fiscal hawks, just one House Republican - Walter Jones of North Carolina - voted against the bill solely because it would expand the deficit and add an estimated $1.5 trillion to the debt over 10 years.
The bill repeals part of the Obamacare health system and allows oil drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, just two of many items added to the bill to secure votes of support as it rocketed through Congress in mere weeks.
The last time Congress overhauled the tax code was in 1986 under former Republican President Ronald Reagan, a process that took years. The Reagan tax reform was a bipartisan effort drafted after dozens of public hearings and months of open debate.
