GOP senators raise concerns over tax plan

GOP senators are quickly raising concerns about the Senate GOP tax plan hours after being briefed on the details of the proposal.

GOP Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), who is retiring after 2018, issued a warning shot over the debt, saying he remains concerned about by Republicans’ tax proposals, appearing to refer to both the House and Senate plans.

“I remain concerned over how the current tax reform proposals will grow the already staggering national debt by opting for short-term fixes while ignoring long-term problems for taxpayers and the economy,” Flake said in a statement. 

He added that lawmakers “must achieve real tax reform crafted in a fiscally responsible manner” and he would work on the Senate floor “to deliver on that goal.” 

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Flake isn’t the only GOP senator who has raised concerns about the debt ahead of the tax debate. 

Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), while touting the tax-reform effort, said on Thursday that lawmakers couldn’t “lose sight of our responsibilities to protect the nation, provide basic government services, and confront our federal debt.”

GOP Sens. John McCain (Ariz.) and Bob Corker (Tenn.) have raised similar concerns, with Corker pledging that he won’t support “one penny’s worth of deficits.”

The Senate plan allows for adding up to $1.5 trillion to the debt over 10 years. 

Senate Finance Committee aides told The Washington Post that they would need to make adjustments to the legislation because it doesn’t currently meet the requirement that it not add to the debt after 10 years.

Meanwhile, Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) said the $1,650 child tax credit included in the Senate plan didn’t cut it.

“While we are glad to see an increase to the child tax credit, like the House bill, it is simply not enough for working families,” they said. 

The two senators added that they want to double the current tax credit to $2,000 per child. 

“The Senate is not going to pass a bill that isn’t clearly pro-family, so we look forward to working with our colleagues to get there,” Rubio and Lee said. 

The Senate’s $1,650 credit is a $50 increase over the House tax plan, which includes a $1,600 credit. 

Republicans have a narrow path to getting a tax plan through the Senate.

With a 52-seat majority, if every Democratic senator votes no, they can only afford to lose two GOP senators and still have Vice President Pence cast a tiebreaking vote. 

That gives leverage to any three senators to demand changes or potentially kill legislation they don’t support. 

The Senate Finance Committee is expected to start its work on the tax plan next week, with a full Senate vote likely after the week-long Thanksgiving break.