The Senate passed President Trump’s Tax Cut and Job Acts late Tuesday evening in a straight party line vote, 51 to 48. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who is back home in Arizona in the midst of treatments for cancer, was the only member of the Senate who did not vote.
“Republicans advanced to the one-yard line to pass historic tax reform as the Senate passed the final Tax Cut and Jobs Act on Tuesday, sending the bill to the House for final passage. President Donald Trump hopes to sign the bill before Christmas,” Breitbart News reported at 12:47 a.m. eastern time on Wednesday, adding:
The Senate passed the final the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, 51-48, along partisan lines. Fifty-one Republicans voted in favor the bill, while zero Democrats voted for the tax reform legislation.
Vice President Mike Pence presided over the vote as the president of the Senate.
The House passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act earlier on Tuesday. However, the Senate parliamentarian ruled that three provisions violated the Senate’s Byrd rule for reconciliation bills, so the House will have to vote on the tax reform legislation again on Wednesday.
President Trump has invited Republican leaders from the House and Senate to the White House Wednesday afternoon for a celebration of the bill’s anticipated final passage in both Houses.
The president is not expected to sign the bill on Wednesday. The White House is apparently arranging a time and place for the signing ceremony that will maximize the event’s publicity.
