On Thursday afternoon, the House of Representatives passed the GOP tax cut plan by 227-205 with no Democratic votes and 13 Republicans against. California Republicans voting “no” were: Darrell Issa (R-San Diego), Tom McClintock (R-Placer), and Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach). The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is expected to add $1.4 trillion to the deficit over 10 years, while eliminating many deductions and lowering the corporate rate to 20 percent. Republicans from high-tax states such as California, New York, and New Jersey oppose the bill’s reductions to the state and local tax deduction and mortgage interest deduction.
The next step is to pass a companion bill in the U.S. Senate where the margin for error is slim. Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin) has come forward as the first Republican to express his opposition to Senate proposal, drafted by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah). The Senate version of the bill ran into a setback on Thursday when a congressional analysis found it would raise taxes for lower-income Americans over time. Republicans are seeking to avoid another high-profile defeat in Congress and hope to send a bill to President Trump before the end of the year. Senate Republicans drastically complicated the passage of their tax bill by including a repeal of the Obamacare individual mandate which requires all Americans to buy health insurance. In addition to Ron Johnson, Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine), Jeff Flake (R-Arizona), John McCain (R-Arizona), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), and Bob Corker (R-Tennessee) have yet to express support for the bill and are considered potential “no” votes. If the Senate passes its own tax measure, the two bodies of Congress will convene to reconcile the differences between their versions of the bill before sending it to the President for his signature.