House and Senate Republicans are taking their first concrete steps Thursday toward enacting a major U.S. tax cut by advancing budget resolutions for fiscal 2018 -- and it only gets harder from here.
"It’s uphill, there’s no doubt about that," Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah, chairman of the tax-writing Finance Committee, told reporters Wednesday about the road forward.
Republicans are arguing over the size of proposed tax cuts, whether those cuts should add to the federal deficit, and which tax breaks to eliminate -- in particular the deduction for state and local taxes. Lawmakers say there will be more fights ahead on other tax breaks for individuals and businesses as the GOP tries to reach its longtime tax-cut goals.
"I think every one of these is going to be hard," said Senator John Thune of South Dakota, a member of Republican leadership and the Finance Committee.
Republicans are eager to enact a budget -- normally an optional exercise -- because it will include language allowing them to ram through a separate GOP-only tax bill without Democratic votes in the Senate. The House adopted its budget resolution Thursday on a 219-206 mostly party-line vote.
President Donald Trump praised the plan in a statement that said it "drives economic growth and job creation" and lays the groundwork to "fix our rigged and burdensome tax code."
"It’s uphill, there’s no doubt about that," Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah, chairman of the tax-writing Finance Committee, told reporters Wednesday about the road forward.
Republicans are arguing over the size of proposed tax cuts, whether those cuts should add to the federal deficit, and which tax breaks to eliminate -- in particular the deduction for state and local taxes. Lawmakers say there will be more fights ahead on other tax breaks for individuals and businesses as the GOP tries to reach its longtime tax-cut goals.
"I think every one of these is going to be hard," said Senator John Thune of South Dakota, a member of Republican leadership and the Finance Committee.
Republicans are eager to enact a budget -- normally an optional exercise -- because it will include language allowing them to ram through a separate GOP-only tax bill without Democratic votes in the Senate. The House adopted its budget resolution Thursday on a 219-206 mostly party-line vote.
President Donald Trump praised the plan in a statement that said it "drives economic growth and job creation" and lays the groundwork to "fix our rigged and burdensome tax code."