Senate passes sweeping GOP tax plan in early hours of Saturday morning

The Senate passed its tax reform bill in the early hour of Saturday morning, following a day full of Republican leaders making changes to bring enough members on board and a long night full of heated rhetoric on both sides of the aisle. The vote was 51-49, mostly along party lines.

Bill Clinton won after all

Two weeks ago, it seemed former President Bill Clinton was finished as a public figure. A variety of public intellectuals on the left had consigned him to the ashtray of history; they'd attested to their newfound faith in his rape accuser Juanita Broaddrick or torn him to shreds for having taken advantage of a young intern, Monica Lewinsky.

Time is running out for lawmakers mulling intelligence collection bills

The congressional clock is running out as a handful of bills are batted around Capitol Hill to reauthorize a critical foreign intelligence collection program that expires in four weeks. The House intelligence committee on Friday passed the latest one 13-8.

Senate edges closer to passing sweeping tax-reform bill

Telling reporters we have the votes, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., walks to the chamber after a closed-door meeting with Republican lawmakers to advance the stalled GOP overhaul of the tax code, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Dec. 1, 2017. Telling reporters we have the votes, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., walks to the chamber after a closed-door meeting with Republican lawmakers to advance the stalled GOP overhaul of the tax code, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Dec. 1, 2017.

Top Republican who led Benghazi panel used $150,000 of…

In 2016, Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina reportedly used $150,000 in taxpayer money to settle a veteran-discrimination and retaliation claim with a former aide. The ex-staffer, an officer in the Air Force Reserves, alleged that Gowdy had discriminated against him after he took leave for his service-related obligations.

Candidate’s UT coaching tweet draws call from Jimmy Haslam

Republican gubernatorial candidate Diane Black received a phone call from prominent University of Tennessee football booster Jimmy Haslam , the brother of Gov. Bill Haslam and owner of the Cleveland Browns, after she posted a tweet bemoaning the school's first choice to become the school's next football coach. Bill Haslam has told reporters that his brother had no role in the effort to hire Ohio State defensive coordinator Greg Schiano - a deal that fell through amid public backlash over an unproven claim in court documents that he might have known about sexual abuse of boys when he was an assistant at Penn State.

Time running out for lawmakers mulling surveillance bills

The congressional clock is running out as a handful of bills are batted around Capitol Hill to reauthorize a critical foreign intelligence collection program that expires in four weeks. The House intelligence committee on Friday passed the latest one 13-8.

GOP nears Senate OK of tax bill after flurry of final deals

President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans are scrambling to change a Republican tax... . Pausing for a reporter's question, Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., and other senators squeeze into an elevator as they rush to the chamber to vote on amendments as the Republican leadership works to craft their sweeping tax ... .

Republican deficit hawks vanish as Senate races to pass tax bill

The Republican chase for a rare political and policy win with passage of their tax plan has thinned the ranks of the party's deficit hawks. The last one standing in the Senate chamber was Tennessee Senator Bob Corker, and he was resigned to defeat.

U.S. states gird for fight as Trump targets consumer finance watchdog

Pennsylvania's Attorney General is leading the charge among his Democratic peers preparing to shore up protections for borrowers and savers while President Donald Trump follows through on a pledge to defang a powerful consumer finance watchdog. FILE PHOTO: Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney arrives to speak to the media at the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau , where he began work earlier in the day after being named acting director by U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington, DC, U.S. on November 27, 2017.

Mitch McConnell: ‘We have the votes’ to pass tax bill

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said "we have the votes" to pass the tax reform bill. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., announced he has secured at least 50 votes needed to pass a $1.4 trillion tax cut bill later this afternoon.

Flynn prepared to testify Trump directed him to contact Russians -ABC

ABC News reported today that former U.S. national security adviser Michael Flynn is prepared to testify that President Donald Trump directed him to make contact with Russians when he was a presidential candidate. Reuters could not immediately verify the report, which cited a Flynn confidant.

Senate GOP got to ‘yes’ by raising tax on overseas earnings, boosting small business breaks

The change was a key last-minute revision to the bill meant to gain the votes of Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Steve Daines of Montana. Republicans will increase the size of the one-time tax on overseas corporate earnings to pay for bigger small business tax breaks in their tax bill, several senators said Friday.

Small Businesses Are An Afterthought In Senate Tax Fight

Republican senators say tax reform would benefit small businesses but their true goal is to help the biggest firms, a fact dramatically illustrated by a Republican-on-Republican policy fight this week. The legislation would reduce the top corporate tax rate, the one paid by the largest publicly-traded companies, from 35 to 20 percent.

Mitch McConnell Says Republicans Have The Votes To Pass Tax Bill

Hours before Senate Republicans were scheduled to vote on a tax proposal that doesn't technically exist in final legislative form, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell strode to the floor McConnell was foiled over the summer and fall by the GOP effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, suffering a number of embarrassing defeats that illustrated his inability to wrangle the Republican Senate conference. Tax reform would be different, promised McConnell and other GOP leaders.

Cornyn, McConnell on tax reform: We’ve got this

Really? It didn't look that way yesterday evening when three of their Republican colleagues nearly derailed the tax reform bill on a procedural vote. After intense negotiations this morning and a little horse-trading, though, John Cornyn told reporters that GOP leadership have 50 votes whipped for the bill's final vote, expected later today or early tomorrow: Pressed if that means GOP leadership has the 50 votes needed to let Vice President Pence break a tie, he added "yes."

Sen. Jeff Flake announces support for tax bill; deal involves work on DACA

Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona, one of the last remaining GOP holdouts on the Senate's tax-cut plan, announced Friday he will support the bill in exchange for work on a fix for certain illegal immigrants often brought into the country as children - a hot-button issue as lawmakers also work on year-end spending bills. Mr. Flake said he wanted to get a firm commitment for work "on a growth-oriented legislative solution to enact fair and permanent protections for DACA recipients," and to eliminate what he described as one of the budget gimmicks GOP leaders are using to bring down the cost of their bill.

Senate GOP hustles to meet tax bill holdouts’ demands

Senate Republicans are stepping quickly to meet competing demands of holdout GOP senators for a tax overhaul package expected to add $1 trillion to the nation's deficit over 10 years. The Republicans eye a crucial final vote Friday on the $1.4 trillion Senate bill carrying the hopes of President Donald Trump and the Republican Party to preserve their majorities in next year's elections.

The Latest: Trump says tax bill keeps getting better

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump watch performances during the National Christmas Tree lighting ceremony at the Ellipse near the White House in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 30, 2017. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump watch performances during the National Christmas Tree lighting ceremony at the Ellipse near the White House in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 30, 2017.