WASHINGTON — Republicans managed to dodge a couple speed bumps on the path to tax reform Tuesday after two doubtful GOP senators agreed to help move the bill forward, but the Senate Budget Committee hearing didn’t avoid conflict as about 100 protesters chanted “kill the bill” and Capitol police dragged about 10 to 12 from the hearing.
President Donald Trump visited GOP senators on Capitol Hill prior to the hearing, the second time this month the president has visited with lawmakers before a key vote on tax reform.
More than 100 demonstrators and self-described Affordable Care Act beneficiaries broke into protest minutes before a vote on the tax bill, where the Senate Budget Committee advanced the bill along party lines by a 12-11 vote.
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Michael B. Enzi announced that no new amendments would be considered by the committee before the vote on whether to send it to the full Senate for a vote. Republican Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Bob Corker of Tennessee, who have both expressed concerns of the legislation, recommended provisions they would still like to see included in the bill, but went along with the other committee Republicans to approve the bill 12-11 for a full Senate vote.
But Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., responded that the $1.4 trillion tax cut plan would disproportionally benefit the wealthy and “raise taxes for millions of working American families.”
As Sanders finished speaking protesters inside the hearing room chanted “kill the bill.” Among the protesters were nurses as well as people who are HIV-positive or disabled who said their lives depended on the benefits they receive from the Affordable Care Act and strongly complained abou the harm that repeal of the individual mandate under the Senate’s tax plan would cause them.
Trump was scheduled to meet with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, but the top Democrats canceled following a morning tweet from the president calling them “all talk” and “no action.”
After Schumer and Pelosi canceled, House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell issued a joint statement: “We have important work to do, and Democratic leaders have continually found new excuses not to meet with the administration to discuss these issues. Democrats are putting government operations, particularly resources for our men and women on the battlefield, at great risk by pulling these antics.”
With the Senate scheduled to meet only 13 more days in 2017, the Senate is expected to vote on their bill later this week. If passed, GOP leaders in the House and Senate would have to merge their bills into a single bill to send Trump before Christmas.