Jones on being seated now for tax vote: ‘Let’s just see how it plays out’

Sen.-elect Doug Jones (D-Ala.) said on Thursday he is not going to enter the debate over whether he should be seated in time for a vote on tax reform, saying he is going to let developments “play out.”

“I’m going to just let that play out. I really don’t have a position on that. You know, with the holidays and everything going on, this is a big deal. I want to make sure it’s done right. So let’s just see how it plays out,” Jones told NBC’s Savannah Guthrie on NBC’s “Today.” 

Jones’s comments come amid a push by Democrats for the newly elected senator to be seated in the chamber before a final vote on the legislation that would overhaul the country’s tax code. 

{mosads}”We Senate Democrats are calling on [Senate Majority Leader] Mitch McConnell to hit pause on his tax bill and not hold a final vote until Doug Jones is sworn into the Senate,” Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on Wednesday. 

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) also called on Republicans to delay the legislation, citing the 2010 Massachusetts Senate race in which Democrats had called for Republican Scott Brown to be seated prior to holding a final vote on the Affordable Care Act. 

“There is no reason to ram through that kind of massive restructuring of our economic system before Alabama gets its new senator unless Republicans are concerned that their deal won’t withstand a couple more weeks of public scrutiny,” Warren said.

Republicans are hoping to hold a vote on the legislation next week, while Alabama officials have said they will not certify the Senate race results until Dec. 26, meaning Jones could be seated in January.