

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said he expected a final vote late Thursday or early Friday on a $1.4 trillion package that would slash the corporate tax rate, offer more modest cuts for families and individuals and eliminate several popular deductions.

Lawmakers would then try to reconcile the Senate package with one passed by the House in the hope of delivering a major legislative accomplishment to President Donald Trump by Christmas. Republicans have cast passage of a tax overhaul as a political imperative to ensure they hold their House and Senate majorities in next year's midterm elections.

"We're heading down the homestretch," McConnell told reporters on Thursday.


Their support is key because Senate Republicans hold a slim 52-48 majority in the Senate, meaning they can only afford to lose two votes, with Vice President Mike Pence casting the tie-breaker.


Murkowski said she supports the tax bill now that it would allow oil drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Murkowski got the provision added earlier this week, but the initial version violated arcane Senate rules about which provisions can be added to the tax bill.

Murkowski said Thursday the provision was tweaked to comply. "We have done it and we're ready to go," she said.


Senators were still grappling with several issues Thursday, including how to craft a trigger that would impose automatic tax increases if the tax package doesn't raise as much revenue as projected. The provision would mollify deficit hawks who worry that the massive package of tax cuts for businesses and individuals would add too much to the nation's mounting debt.

Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the No. 3 Republican in the Senate, called the trigger "a work in progress" Thursday afternoon.






Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., has also been pushing to increase the tax break for these business owners. He has been noncommittal about his support, even with the change secured by Daines.

The tax package would mark the first time in 31 years that Congress has overhauled the tax code.


Under Senate rules, senators can offer unlimited amendments, setting up the possibility of dozens of votes that could stretch all night into Friday morning.


Associated Press writer Alan Fram contributed to this report.

