Rand Paul to vote for Senate GOP tax bill

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said on Monday that he will vote for the Senate GOP tax plan and urged his colleagues to “step up” and back the measure.

“This tax bill is a true test for my colleagues. I’m not getting everything I want — far from it. … I’ve fought for and received major changes for the better — and I plan to vote for this bill as it stands right now,” Paul wrote in a Fox News op-ed.

He added that he urged his colleagues to support the bill and “I urge you, their constituents, to make sure they hear from you.”

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Senate Republicans are expected to vote on their tax plan this week.

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) faces a narrow path to getting the bill through the chamber.

With a 52-seat majority, he can only afford to lose two GOP senators if every Democrat opposes the bill.

Paul’s decision to support the tax plan comes after he was one of the largest hurdles for Senate GOP leadership during a debate over repealing and replacing ObamaCare earlier this year.

But he added in Monday’s op-ed that while he would like the bill to include a larger tax cut, he is glad that leadership included a repeal of ObamaCare’s individual mandate.

“I’m also pleased to note that, in part by my urging, the Senate tax-plan writers have included repeal of the ObamaCare individual mandate in the tax plan. … I was pleased to work directly with President Trump to push this important change that lets us keep multiple promises in one bill,” Paul wrote.

GOP leadership included the repeal of the mandate in an updated version of their bill released before the Thanksgiving recess, in a major victory for conservatives and the Trump administration.

But they are facing pressure from some GOP senators, including Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Jerry Moran (Kan.), to remove the provision.