2 holdout GOP senators might've just put the tax bill over the top
- The Senate is expected to vote on the Republican tax bill on Friday afternoon.
- GOP leaders are scrambling to get 50 votes.
- Two Republican holdouts, Ron Johnson and Steve Daines, said they would support the bill.
- This may give it enough votes to pass.
Republicans leaders secured two more votes for their massive tax bill on Friday morning, possibly giving the plan enough votes to pass.
Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Steve Daines of Montana said they would support the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) after last-minute changes to benefits for pass-through entities.
Pass-throughs are businesses in which the owner books the profits of the company as their income, such as a limited liability company or an S-corporation. The TCJA originally gave these businesses a 17.4% deduction on their profit, but Johnson and Daines wanted to increase that amount because they said it would bolster small business.
According to Daines, the deduction was finally raised to 23% which satisfied the two members.
"After weeks of fighting for Main Street businesses including Montana's farmers and ranchers, I've decided to support the Senate tax cut bill which provides significant tax relief for Main Street businesses," Daines said in a statement Friday.
Johnson told a local Wisconsin radio station WISN that he was on board with the plan as well. The senator was one of three members that held up proceedings on the TCJA for nearly an hour on Thursday night due to concerns about the bill.
With the addition of Daines and Johnson, it appears that Sens. Bob Corker and Jeff Flake are the two remaining Republican members wth public objections to the TCJA.
Johnson told WISN that with the votes from Daines and him, the GOP may have the needed votes even without Corker and Flake. This would also mean that the 50-50 tie would have to be broken by Vice President Mike Pence, since there are 52 GOP senators.
Debate on the TCJA is expected to resume at 10 am ET, and a final vote should come Friday afternoon.