Grassley laments being left out of tax bill conference

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) lamented in a tweet directed at President Trump on Thursday that he will not serve on the committee charged with hashing out a final tax-reform bill with the House.

“@realDonaldTrump I’m the most Senior member of Senate Finance Comm I was dropped as Conferee So I won’t be in front line fighting for what u and I believe to cut taxes,” Grassley wrote on Twitter.

@realDonaldTrump I’m the most Senior member of Senate Finance Comm I was dropped as Conferee So I won’t be in front line fighting for what u and I believe to cut taxes

— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) December 7, 2017

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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Wednesday announced the eight Repubilcan senators who would serve on the conference committee, naming Orrin Hatch (Utah), Mike Enzi (Wyo.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), John Cornyn (Texas), John Thune (S.D.), Rob Portman (Ohio), Tim Scott (S.C.) and Pat Toomey (Pa.).

Seven of the senators named sit on the Senate Finance Committee, including Hatch, who serves as the panel’s chairman.

Grassley is a former chairman of the Finance panel.

Michael Zona, Grassley’s communications director, said that Grassley wanted to notify Trump that he would not be on the committee because the two had talked so much about tax reform.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Senate voted 51-47 to approve a motion to send the legislation to conference with the House, where lawmakers from both chambers will work to reconcile the differences between their separate tax bills.

– This story was updated at 11:38 A.M. EST