Overnight Finance: GOP celebrates as final tax vote nears | Senate expected to pass bill tonight | Why the House needs to vote again | Panel rejects Trump pick to head Ex-Im | All major banks pass Fed ‘living will’ test

GOP celebrates as final tax vote nears: Republicans edged closer Tuesday to securing their first major legislative victory of the Trump era after the House approved a sweeping tax-cut bill that left Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and his allies euphoric amid an often-frustrating year of unified GOP rule.

The House will have to vote again on the bill Wednesday because the Senate’s parliamentarian ruled provisions in the bill did not comply with the budget rules of reconciliation, which Republicans are using to avoid a Democratic filibuster in the Senate.

{mosads}

But the procedural issues will do little to dampen the Republican mood, which was elation after a House vote in which only 12 GOP lawmakers voted against the bill.

A grinning Ryan announced the final 227-203 vote himself, hammering the gavel down in the victory and then leading his rank-and-file members in applause.

“Today, we are giving the people of this country their money back. This is their money, after all,” Ryan said in a floor speech before the final vote.

At a press conference later, he argued that Republicans had kept a promise by passing the bill, and predicted it would grow in popularity when taxpayers see their paychecks grow in February.

Republicans have struggled to beat back perceptions that their proposal primarily benefits corporations and the wealthy. Many middle-class Americans are likely to see at least a modest tax cut, although some people in high-tax states could lose out from the bill’s new limits on state, local and property tax deductions.

The Senate is expected to vote on the bill later on Tuesday night, which would set up the final vote in the House on Wednesday. The legislation would then go to the White House for Trump’s signature. http://bit.ly/2BIXF7J

 

For more on the House vote…: The House on Tuesday approved the final version of the GOP’s bill to overhaul the U.S. tax code, bringing Republicans closer to getting their first big legislative win with full control of government. The tax measure easily passed by a vote of 227-203. Just 12 Republicans joined with all Democrats in opposing the bill.

Multiple protesters interrupted House floor debate on the tax bill Tuesday, including people who shouted “kill the bill, don’t kill us!” as well as a woman in a wheelchair who said she relies on Medicaid and warned that the bill would “starve” the public.

One protester even interrupted Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) as he delivered a floor speech that he’s wanted to give for decades in support of the tax overhaul.

“Today, we are giving the people of this country their money back. This is their money, after all,” Ryan said.

A woman in the public visitors gallery then shouted, “You’re lying!” The Hill’s Naomi Jagoda and Cristina Marcos report: http://bit.ly/2BKVnEY.

 

Why the House is voting twice (Spolier: It’s because of the Senate): House Republicans will need to pass their tax plan for a second time after the Senate parliamentarian ruled that provisions in the bill violated the rules governing the legislation.

“Members are advised that we expect Senate Democrats to insist on a Byrd Point of Order on the Conference Report to Accompany H.R. 1, which is likely to be sustained,” said guidance from House Majority Whip Steve Scalise’s (R-La.) office, which was sent to GOP lawmakers.

“As such, Members are further advised that an additional procedural vote on the Motion to Concur is expected tomorrow morning, which will clear the bill for President Trump’s signature,” his office added.

The Senate ruled that two provisions in the bill did not comply with the budget rules of reconciliation, which Republicans are using to avid a Democratic filibuster, according to multiple congressional sources.

A House Ways and Means Committee spokesperson said “two minor provisions” would be removed from the Senate bill. The Hill’s Jordain Carney explains: http://bit.ly/2BJAzhb.

 

Collins: Media coverage of my tax vote ‘unbelievably sexist’ Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) on Tuesday complained that the coverage of her role in the GOP tax plan has been “unbelievably sexist,” Politico reported.

Collins, who has been a key vote in the bill’s passage, said the coverage has been “extremely discouraging.”

“I believe that the coverage has been unbelievably sexist, and I cannot believe that the press would have treated another senator with 20 years of experience as they have treated me,” she told reporters.

“They’ve ignored everything that I’ve gotten and written story after story about how I’m duped. How am I duped when all your amendments get accepted?”

Critics of the tax bill had hoped that Collins would vote against it, given that she opposed legislation earlier this year to repeal ObamaCare.

But Collins agreed to back the tax plan after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) promised that the Senate would pass two bills to stabilize ObamaCare, among other things.

The senator criticized reporters for speculating about whether GOP leaders will actually be able to pass the ObamaCare legislation, and noted that she was able to have several amendments added to the tax bill: http://bit.ly/2BNrnbs.

 

Trump congratulates House GOP on passing tax bill: President Trump congratulated House Republicans on Tuesday shortly after they passed a final version of the GOP tax-reform plan.

The measure passed the House in a 227-203 vote, with no Democrats voting in favor and 12 Republican defections.

“Congratulations to Paul Ryan, Kevin McCarthy, Kevin Brady, Steve Scalise, Cathy McMorris Rodgers and all great House Republicans who voted in favor of cutting your taxes!” Trump tweeted: http://bit.ly/2BKBH46.

 

Senate panel rejects Trump’s nominee to lead Ex-Im Bank: The Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday rejected President Trump’s nominee to lead the Export-Import Bank.

The panel, in a 10-13 vote, declined to advance the nomination of Scott Garrett, a former Republican congressman from New Jersey.

Two Republicans — Sens. Mike Rounds (S.D.) and Tim Scott (S.C.) — joined Democrats in opposing the nominee.

“If there was ever somebody who didn’t belong at the helm of the Ex-Im bank, it was Scott Garrett,” said Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.).

Schumer called on Trump to withdraw Garrett’s nomination and choose someone who will “fulfill the mission of the Ex-Im bank.”

Garrett’s nomination proved deeply controversial with the Banking Committee, and his chances of being recommended by the panel seemed to plunge last week when Rounds announced he would oppose Garrett. Yet the White House refused to pull his name from consideration. The Hill’s Vicki Needham reports: http://bit.ly/2BKCTo6.

 

Happy Tuesday and welcome back to Overnight Finance. I’m Sylvan Lane, and here’s your nightly guide to everything affecting your bills, bank account and bottom line.

See something I missed? Let me know at slane@digital-stage.thehill.com or tweet me @SylvanLane. And if you like your newsletter, you can subscribe to it here: http://bit.ly/1NxxW2N.

 

Abortion fight risks shutdown: A new fight over abortion has thrown a late obstacle into negotiations on the year-end stopgap spending deal days before a possible government shutdown.

House Republicans say two ObamaCare measures that Senate GOP leaders are expected to attach to the stopgap as part of a deal with Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) must include Hyde Amendment language prohibiting the use of federal funds for abortion.

It would be a “stone cold non-starter” for many House Republicans to vote for the stopgap that does not includes the ObamaCare measures without the abortion restrictions, said one House GOP appropriations aide.

“It won’t pass the House if you don’t have Hyde protections,” said House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-Ore.).

But Democrats oppose including the language, which they see as an expansion of the existing Hyde Amendment. They argue including the language could discourage private insurers from covering abortions, and insist they won’t back the stopgap if it is added.

Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.) said Tuesday that adding Hyde language would “kill it altogether.” http://bit.ly/2kkxryi

 

House rolls the dice in spending bill fight: House GOP leaders are pushing ahead with a risky strategy to avoid a government shutdown at the end of the week: passing a bill that they know is dead on arrival in the Senate.

The current plan for the House is to put a bill on the floor later this week that links a full year of funding for defense with a stopgap measure that funds domestic programs until Jan. 19.

But Republicans know the legislation will likely fail in the upper chamber, meaning the House may end up having to pass a clean continuing resolution (CR) with the help of Democrats — something that Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) had sought to avoid, and a move that would almost certainly generate blowback from House conservatives.

“If the Senate sends back a clean CR, you’d lose some Republican votes. You presumably would get some Democratic votes,” said Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), the chairman of an Appropriations subcommittee. “But you’re not going to be able to make that call until we go through the motions.” http://bit.ly/2BLsAjr.

 

House to include $81B disaster aid package in government funding bill: House Republican leaders are preparing to attach an $81 billion disaster aid package to a stopgap spending bill as part of their strategy to avoid a government shutdown, GOP lawmakers said Tuesday.

The addition of disaster aid to the short-term spending bill is the first of what could be multiple extraneous measures to the last legislative train leaving the station before the holidays.

Current government funding runs out after Friday. But the Senate is likely to make changes to the short-term spending bill that the House is expected to pass on Wednesday, including a measure to prop up the ObamaCare insurance markets.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), whose state was hit by Hurricane Harvey, also said more disaster relief money could be added to the funding bill once it reaches the Senate.

Members of the Texas and Florida delegation have made clear they would oppose a stopgap spending bill if they don’t secure emergency aid for their constituents before leaving town: http://bit.ly/2BLtUmx.

 

All major banks pass Fed ‘living will’ test: The Federal Reserve announced Tuesday that all eight globally important banks it oversees produced passable plans that outline how they would disassemble without shocking the economy.

Four of the eight largest banks under Fed supervision filed resolution plans or “living wills,” with no shortcomings.

The Fed said that Bank of New York Mellon, Citigroup, J.P. Morgan Chase and State Street all submitted satisfactory plans for how they would break apart their banks upon failure without triggering an economic crisis.

The Fed found shortcomings in plans produced by Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo. The banks will have to submit updated plans that address the flaws, which were not serious enough to warrant a failing grade.

The Dodd-Frank Act of 2010 requires the largest U.S. banks with international operations to submit living wills to the Fed for approval each year. That provision is intended to prevent banks from triggering financial panics upon sudden failure. It was crafted in response to the implosions of Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, AIG and other large firms that triggered the 2008 crisis. http://bit.ly/2BOgTIO.

 

Back to the tax bill…

 

Trump predicts economic boost after tax bill is ‘totally understood and appreciated’: President Trump in an early morning tweet on Tuesday predicted an economic boost after the expected passage of the GOP tax-reform plan in Congress.

“Stocks and the economy have a long way to go after the Tax Cut Bill is totally understood and appreciated in scope and size,” Trump said.

“Immediate expensing will have a big impact. Biggest Tax Cuts and Reform EVER passed. Enjoy, and create many beautiful JOBS!” http://bit.ly/2BLKHpy.

 

JCT: Middle class gets quarter of individual tax cuts in GOP tax bill: About a quarter of the tax cuts for individuals included in the GOP tax bill would go to middle-class Americans, a new analysis of the bill found.

The Joint Committee on Taxation found in an analysis released Monday that middle-class taxpayers would get about $61 billion in tax cuts in 2019 under the bill, according to the analysis.

About 23 percent of tax cuts for individuals in the bill would go to those in the middle class.

However, those same individuals would see their taxes rise overall after a decade, according to the report.

The middle class, Americans making between $20,000 and $100,000, make up about half of the people filing taxes in the U.S., The Wall Street Journal reported.

The top bracket analyzed in the report, those making $500,000 or more each year, would see about $61 billion in tax cuts in 2019, the report found. That level of income makes up about 1 percent of tax filers each year, according to the Journal.

Republicans, including President Trump, have touted the plan as benefiting middle-class Americans: http://bit.ly/2BMgirf.

 

House GOP chairman votes against tax bill: House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.) voted against the GOP’s tax overhaul on Tuesday, in defiance of some fellow Republicans who criticized his defection on the party’s top legislative priority.

Frelinghuysen was among 12 Republicans who voted against the final version of the tax overhaul. All but one of the GOP defectors, including Frelinghuysen, represent districts in high-tax states like New Jersey, New York and California that are expected to be negatively impacted by the bill’s limits on the state and local tax deduction.

“The people of New Jersey already carry an extremely heavy tax burden. They need and deserve tax cuts. Unfortunately, H.R. 1 caps the federal deduction for state and local taxes (SALT) which will lead to tax increases for far too many hardworking New Jersey families,” Frelinghuysen said in a statement.

“This legislation will also damage our state’s housing market and business environment,” he added.

Frelinghuysen also voted against the original House version of the GOP tax plan last month. That vote rubbed colleagues the wrong way because committee chairmen are generally expected to support leadership’s initiatives.

Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and his leadership team discussed removing Frelinghuysen as chairman of the powerful Appropriations Committee after he broke with the party line last month on the tax bill: http://bit.ly/2BNBw8e.

 

Manchin: Republicans could have won Dem votes on tax bill ‘if they just made an effort’ Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said in a new interview that he and some other Democrats would have been “easy pick ups” on the GOP tax-reform bill if Republicans had “just made an effort.”

“I was an easy pick up. Very easy pick up,” Manchin told the Politico podcast Off Message.

“And I had a couple — two or three other Democrats who would have been very easy pick ups if they just made an effort.”

Manchin, a red-state Democrat who is up for his first Senate reelection next year, said such an effort could have included a working group that discussed how to tackle the national debt.

Manchin is up for reelection in a state that Trump won by more than 40 points in the 2016 presidential election: http://bit.ly/2BNC0ey.

 

Sarah Huckabee Sanders: Dems should have been ‘begging’ to participate in tax reform: White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders criticized Democrats early Tuesday for refusing to participate in the GOP’s effort to reform the tax code, saying that President Trump would have “welcomed” their input.

Speaking on “Fox & Friends,” Sanders said Trump said many times that he was willing to work Democrats and invited them to the White House on several occasions.

“This is a president who would’ve been happy to take their call and certainly happy to have their vote, to help Americans have more money in their paychecks, more money in their pockets, more money for businesses to reinvest in this country,” Sanders said.

“That’s something that Democrats shouldn’t need to be begged to be a part of. They should’ve been begging and banging down the door of the building behind me to be part of this process and to be part of helping more Americans be more successful.” http://bit.ly/2BKtbSv.

 

Bernie Sanders: Passage of GOP tax bill a ‘victory’ for Koch brothers, campaign donors, corporations: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), on Tuesday, blasted the GOP tax overhaul bill, arguing that its expected passage is a “victory” for the Koch brothers, Republican campaign donors, large corporations and even some lawmakers.

“Today marks a great day for the Koch brothers and other billionaire, Republican campaign contributors who will see huge tax breaks for themselves while driving up the deficit by almost $1.5 trillion,” Sanders said in a video posted on Twitter.

“Today is also a victory for the largest and most-profitable corporations in this country like Apple, Microsoft, Pfizer and General Electric, who, despite record-breaking profits, will now see hundreds of billions of dollars in tax breaks,” he added.
http://bit.ly/2BOgNAW.

 

Poll: Less than a quarter of Americans think GOP tax plan is a good idea: Less than one quarter of Americans believe the Republican tax-reform bill set to get its final votes in Congress this week is a good idea, according to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released Tuesday.

The poll, conducted Dec. 13-15 before the House or Senate voted on a final version of the bill, shows 24 percent of Americans think the tax plan is a good idea, compared to 41 percent who say it’s a bad idea.

The bill’s popularity has decreased since October, when 25 percent thought it was a good idea and 35 percent thought it was a bad idea.

The bill is more popular among Republicans, with 53 percent giving the tax plan positive marks, according to the poll. Meanwhile, 67 percent of Democrats reject the legislation: http://bit.ly/2B1OI5R.

 

From The Hill’s opinion pages:

Setting the record straight on tax reform

Tax reform saga should alarm defenders of democratic process

Careening from one budget crisis to another is no way to govern

Slashing the corporate rate is the best part of the tax bill

 

Write us with tips, suggestions and news: slane@digital-stage.thehill.com, vneedham@digital-stage.thehill.com, njagoda@digital-stage.thehill.com and nelis@digital-stage.thehill.com. Follow us on Twitter: @SylvanLane,  @VickofTheHill, @NJagoda and @NivElis