Warren pushes for Doug Jones to be included on tax vote

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on Wednesday called for Sen.-elect Doug Jones (D-Ala.) to be seated in the chamber before a vote on a sweeping Republican overhaul of the nation’s tax code.

In remarks on the Senate floor, Warren pointed to Massachusetts’s 2010 special Senate election, in which Republican Scott Brown pulled off a stunning win over Democrat Martha Coakley. Warren said that Senate Democrats at the time insisted that Brown be seated before they held a final vote on the Affordable Care Act.

Republicans, she said, should now follow that precedent and seat Jones before holding a final vote on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the GOP’s tax-reform legislation. 

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“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.

Warren’s remarks came a day after Jones narrowly defeated GOP candidate Roy Moore in Alabama’s special Senate election after a bitter and divisive campaign marked by sexual misconduct allegations against Moore.

In winning Tuesday’s election, Jones became the first Democrat to be elected to the Senate in Alabama in a quarter century. But he will have to wait until votes are certified before he can formally take office. 

Jones’s victory further narrows the Republicans majority in the Senate, making it even more difficult for the GOP to pass legislation. Congressional Republicans and the White House are hoping to hold a final vote on their tax-reform measure before the end of the year.

House and Senate Republican negotiators said Wednesday that they had struck a deal on a final tax-reform bill and that a final vote on the measure could come next week.