A closer look at the GOP tax plans
Wall Street signaled its approval Monday of the tax cuts passed by the Republican-controlled Congress. The Dow closed at a record high, with financial stocks leading the way. The president called the overhaul a Christmas gift. So, what's in it?
President Trump is closing in on his first major legislative victory. Now that the Senate and House have both passed GOP tax plans, the "yeas" are 227 and the "nays" are 205.
Both bills reduce individual rates across the board while roughly doubling the child tax credit and the standard deduction. In exchange, both plans eliminate deductions for interest on student loans for state and local income taxes, and both plans cap the property tax deduction at $10,000.
"We can reach an agreement quickly," Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn said.
GOP leaders predict it will take them about a week to iron out key differences between the two bills. The House bill, for instance, eliminates the alternative minimum tax. The Senate bill does not.
The House bill makes the new lower tax rates permanent while the Senate bill allows them to sunset in 2025, and House Republicans like that the Senate bill repeals the individual health insurance mandate, which would allow the GOP to finally chip away at Obamacare.
But Democrats say Republicans are rushing and making mistakes.
"I want you to take a look at this folks, this is your government at work!" Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., said.
The bill that passed the Senate early Saturday had illegible changes scribbled in the margins.
"'Conversion for a corporation, something, C, corporation, dangerous?' That can't be right," said Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, as she tried to read the bill.
And while studies show the wealthy would be the biggest winners, Republicans insist all taxpayers would come out ahead.
"This is what this bill is about: take-home pay, more money for the American people," Kennedy said.
Republicans do not have the luxury of focusing just on taxes, the government's funding is set to expire at the end of the week, which raises the specter of a government shutdown if the two parties cannot make even a short-term deal over military and domestic spending.