Senate Republicans are pushing work on their tax bill into Friday as they try to address concerns over the deficit.
“For the information of all senators, the Senate will continue to debate the bill tonight. [But] the next roll call votes will be at 11 a.m tomorrow morning,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced Thursday night.
The decision to skip a late-night session on Thursday comes as deficit hawks, led by Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), push for a guarantee that the Senate tax legislation won’t increase the deficit.
They had demanded the inclusion of a “trigger,” but were told by the Senate parliamentarian on Thursday that it didn’t comply with the Senate rules.
That resulted in a dramatic showdown on the Senate floor as leadership and lawmakers discussed an automatic tax increase as an alternative for the trigger.
Though Republicans argue economic growth will cover the $1.4 trillion cost of their bill, an analysis released on Thursday found that it would still cost roughly a $1 trillion over a decade.
The 11th-hour scramble to work out a deal on the deficit made it appear increasingly unlikely that Republicans would be able to pass their tax bill on Thursday night.
Though debate time didn’t technically expire until early Friday morning, leadership had hoped to be able to get an agreement to start the freewheeling floor marathon, known as vote-a-rama, and pass the bill late Thursday.
But GOP senators appeared increasingly skeptical as the night wore on that the timeline was still feasible.
“My expectation is tomorrow,” Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) told reporters shortly before the announcement.
Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) also predicted that votes would be pushed until Friday.
“If I were a betting man, I’d say no,” he said when asked about a Thursday finish.
