The Republican-controlled U.S. Congress appeared all but certain to pass sweeping tax legislation this week after two Senate Republican holdouts agreed on Monday to support a tax overhaul backed by President Donald Trump.
As the Republicans’ self-imposed Friday voting deadline loomed, Senators Susan Collins and Mike Lee each said they had decided to back the legislation hammered out last week among Republicans from the Senate and House of Representatives.
The House of Representatives, which is also expected to adopt the bill, was due to vote first at around 1:30 p.m. (1830 GMT) on Tuesday, Republican aides said. The Senate vote is expected to follow either later on Tuesday or on Wednesday.
Lawmakers in the House, where Republicans hold a 239-193 seat majority, are expected to approve the legislation largely along party lines. A smattering of “no” votes is likely from Republican fiscal hawks and lawmakers from New York, New Jersey and California who oppose a provision that would scale back a popular deduction for state and local taxes.
Both the House and Senate must approve the measure before Trump can sign it into law.
The 100-seat Senate, where Republicans have only a 52-48 majority, proved to be the graveyard for last summer’s Republican drive to overturn former Democratic President Barack Obama’s healthcare law, when three Republicans opposed the measure.
Senate Republicans can afford to lose no more than two votes if they intend to pass tax legislation, and they are already down one vote. Senator John McCain, who is undergoing treatment for brain cancer, will not be available to support the bill because he is spending time with family in Arizona.
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