Top Republican senator says GOP will lose the House and Democrats will 'try to impeach' Trump if they don't pass tax cuts
- Sen. Lindsey Graham said if Republicans do not pass a tax reform bill, they will lose their House majority.
- Graham told Fox News Radio if Democrats won back the House they would impeach President Donald Trump "pretty quick."
- Graham said not passing a tax bill would probably lead to "the end of the Republican Party as we know it."
Sen. Lindsey Graham laid out a bleak future for Republicans in Congress if the party doesn't pass a tax code overhaul.
During an interview with Fox New Radio's "Kilmeade and Friends," Graham predicted the GOP would lose control of Congress if they did not pass a tax reform plan before the midterm elections. In turn, he said, it would lead to Democrats undercutting President Donald Trump's administration.
"Well, I think all of us realize that if we fail on taxes, that's the end of the Republican Party's governing majority in 2018," Graham said, according to CNN's K-File. "We'll lose the House, probably lose ground in the Senate."
Without the House under Republican control, Graham said, Trump's tenure in the White House could come under assault.
"They'd try to impeach him pretty quick and it would be just one constant investigation after another," Graham said. "So it's important that we pass tax reform in a meaningful way. If we don't, that's probably the end of the Republican Party as we know it."
Republicans have passed the budget resolution that allows them to bypass a Democratic filibuster in the Senate. But they still have a long way to go toward passing legislation, which is set to be released next week. Some GOP lawmakers have expressed reservations about different elements of the tax reform outline GOP leaders released last month.
Most analysts do not believe the GOP will be able to pass the tax package in 2017.