WASHINGTON – Democratic efforts to alter the fiscal framework in Congress deteriorated on Thursday night as the Senate passed a budget resolution on a 51-49 party-line vote. The resolution now gives GOP lawmakers what they wanted — a chance to pass their tax cut package.
“To middle class families across America, we have a simple message: we want to take more money out of Washington’s pockets and put more in yours,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said following the vote.
The resolution narrowly passed in the Senate following a series of consecutive votes on amendments known as “vote-a-rama” that started Thursday afternoon. A key amendment introduced would have struck down provisions for Republicans to vote on tax reform under budget reconciliation, which only requires 51 votes for passage. Without that, they would have needed 60 votes to end an inevitable Democratic filibuster – and that would have required the unlikely option of getting Democratic support for the tax cuts. Because the amendment did not pass, a GOP tax plan could go to President Donald Trump’s desk without a single Democratic vote.
“This budget allows us to cut taxes. I hope some Democrats will join us. But if they choose not to, we can do it with a simple majority,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
After the budget resolution vote, several Senate Democrats called it “horrific” and a “sham budget.” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said the vote made history as “one of the worst budgets Congress has ever passed.”
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., voted against the budget resolution, the only senator to cross party lines. Paul said that he “could not in good conscience vote for a budget that ignores spending caps that have been the law of the land for years and simply pretend it didn’t.”
Tax cuts in the GOP budget are estimated to add $1.5 trillion to the deficit over 10 years. Additionally, the resolution calls for major spending cuts on Medicare and Medicaid, and increased defense spending.
The Republican tax outline was released last month, and tax writers in both the Senate Finance and Ways and Means committees are working to draft legislation ahead of a Nov. 13 deadline. Trump called the plan the “largest tax cut in the history of our country” on Wednesday.
In order to expedite the resolution between both chambers, the Senate amended the House’s nearly identical budget resolution by eliminating spending cut instructions for more than $200 billion. The amendment, which passed 52 to 48 in the Senate, recommended a “deficit-neutral” tax cut instead. The House could adopt the new resolution next week, allowing Congress to focus its attention on a tax overhaul.