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Lights glow on the Christmas tree in the Statehouse rotunda, Friday, Dec. 15, 2017, in Providence, R.I. Piles of needles cover the area beneath it under several bare branches on the donated tree that was put up in November. The governor's office said there were no plans to replace it.
The GOP tax bill has a last-minute change that could be a huge win for Sen. Bob Corker and Donald Trump The final version of the Republican tax bill includes a change that would allow real estate investors to get a tax break. Republicans revealed the final version of their massive tax bill on Friday, and a last-minute adjustment appears to have made it easier for some real estate investors to take a huge tax break.
In this Dec. 1, 2017 file photo, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., leaves a closed-door session where Republican senators met on the GOP effort to overhaul the tax code, on Capitol Hill in Washington. President Donald Trump says McCain is returning home to Arizona after being hospitalized over the side effects from his brain cancer treatment.
In this Dec. 5, 2017 file photo, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., listens during a meeting of the Senate Banking Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Senate Finance Committee chairman on Monday rejected as "categorically false" a report that Republican Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee was responsible for a provision in the final tax bill that could help him financially.
In his announcement explaining why he is shifting from a 'no' to a 'yes' on President Trump's tax bill, Sen. Bob Corker explained that he was making a bet on the "enterprising spirit" of America. In other words, despite the fact that he promised not to vote for a bill that will add to the deficit, and despite the fact that this bill will certainly do so, Corker is hoping that all the projections are wrong and that other factors, like deregulatory actions and changes in trade and immigration policy will help make up the difference.
Democrats have a path to a Senate majority in 2018 after an upset win by Doug Jones in last Tuesday's Alabama Senate special election. The win in Alabama now gives Democrats the elusive third target seat they had been looking for, which they needed given they're defending 10 incumbents who sit in states that Trump won last November.
With the tax bill complete and two key Senate Republicans promising a "yes" vote Friday, Republicans are rolling at full speed to pass the bill through Congress and land it on President Donald Trump's desk before the end of the week. Both chambers had planned to go into holiday recess at the end of last week, but delayed it a week to push through the tax reform vote and get home before Christmas.
A new controversy has emerged about the tax reform bill - namely, how it will now benefit Trump's bottom line As the Republican tax reform bill winds its way through Congress, two new developments have taken center stage: Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., won't be able to vote for the final measure, and President Donald Trump will be enriched by a new provision that was added to it. McCain headed home to Arizona on Sunday to recover from the effects of chemotherapy treatment he had received in a Maryland hospital for a form of cancer with which he's been diagnosed, according to CBS News .
Holdout Republican Sen. Bob Corker finally announced he would support the Republican tax bill in an upcoming vote - after the proposal was tweaked in a way that could personally enrich him. Corker claims he has not read the mammoth bill being sped through the legislature and has no idea how the language, which was not in previous Senate versions of the bill, got into the plan.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., center, joined by other Republicans, speaks to reporters about the GOP tax bill following a closed-door strategy session on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017. Republicans on Monday will look to put finishing touches on a bill that would overhaul the nation's tax system and give them a much-needed legislative victory.
The tax bill the GOP is trying to foist on the country is not only an unfair and deficit-bloating hodgepodge written on the fly. It is also deeply corrupt.
The House Intelligence Committee has at least two interviews scheduled Monday to kick off a packed week of witnesses in the panel's Russia probe. The committee is interviewing British music publicist Rob Goldstone, who arranged the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting between Trump campaign officials and a Russian lawyer who promised dirt on Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the former head of the Democratic National Committee, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
Background: Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee was the only Republican who voted against the GOP tax bill. He voted against it because he's against raising the deficit by the massive amount that the bill would require.
More than 100 Idaho business leaders, ranging from high-tech CEOs to small-business owners to engineers, marketers and manufacturers, have signed a letter to Gov. Butch Otter and the Idaho Legislature calling for the repeal of a 2016 noncompete law that sharply limits the rights of employees who move to new firms. The law , which passed both houses by divided votes amid much controversy, took effect July 1, 2016.
The House and Senate are expected to hold final votes on the Republican tax cut legislation early in the week. Republicans on the conference committee finalized the bill on Friday after some last-minute theatrics that raised questions about whether they would have the votes.
The fourth-largest wildfire in California history continues to grow and threaten thousands of homes despite armies of fire crews and fleets of bulldozers and aircraft. President Trump is poised to bask in the triumph of his first major legislative victory with the likely passage of tax legislation this week.
Returning from Camp David on Sunday night, Trump told reporters he's not happy with the way the investigation is being handled. President Trump speaks to reporters on the south lawn of at the White House Sunday after returning from Camp David.
The White House gang was all there in the latest "Saturday Night Live" cold open, with Alec Baldwin reprising his role as US President Donald Trump - this time reflecting on his "amazing first year in office." "That's right, you can finally say that again, because the war on Christmas is over," Baldwin's Trump says.
Former Obama-era Attorney General Eric Holder called for mass protests if President Trump fires special counsel Robert Mueller. This is the second warning Holder has issued this week in respect to rumors about President Trump relieving Mueller of his duties as special counsel.