WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans and two independents on Thursday blocked a bipartisan tax package that would have temporarily expanded the child tax credit and restored tax breaks for certain types of businesses.
This 48-44 The procedural vote to pass the package was largely seen as an attempt by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to deliver a message ahead of the August recess and continued preparations for the November general election, when the presidency and control of Congress will be at stake.
The vote on the tax bill was the Senate’s last vote until it returns in September. The House went on August recess a full week before the Senate.
During a press conference after the vote, Schumer said, “American families have lost.”
“Today, Republican senators boldly told the American people that we are saying no to aid in 2024. Let’s be clear: Republicans voted no because of party affiliation, not politics,” the New York Democrat said.
Not all Republican senators voted against the bill. Those who voted in favor included Senators Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, Josh Hawley of Missouri and Rick Scott of Florida.
Senators Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, independents who typically sit on Democratic campaign staff, voted against it.
Schumer changed his mind from “yes” to “no” to request a reconsideration, a routine maneuver.
Eight senators did not vote Thursday, including Democrat John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and Republicans Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, John Hoeven of North Dakota, Mitt Romney of Utah, Tim Scott of South Carolina, Mark Warner of Virginia and Republican vice presidential candidate and Ohio Senator J.D. Vance. Convicted criminals and soon ex Democratic Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey also did not vote.
‘Show Vote,’ Republicans Say
A vast swath of GOP senators, including their top tax writer, Mike Crapo of Idaho, the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, continue to oppose the legislation, which would require 60 votes to advance through the closely divided upper chamber.
Crapo criticized the vote to close the session, calling it a “doomed show vote” that was “focused on an election-year message.”
“If Democrats are serious about helping these working families, I am prepared to push to extend these changes beyond 2025. I remain willing to negotiate legislation that will provide Americans with meaningful relief now,” Crapo said.
Taxation has topped the campaign agenda as the Trump-era tax law expires at the end of 2025, setting up an vital debate for the next administration and Congress.
“I offered to make changes,” Sen. Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon and chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said on the floor before the vote. “I personally met with a significant number of Republican senators.”
“This is a completely bipartisan bill — 357 votes in the House. Every Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee voted for this bill.”
Child Tax Credit and Campaigns
In a recent interview with journalist Megyn Kelly, Vance accused presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris of opposing the child tax credit, a claim that was made overthrown.
Democrats, including Harris, are ON this record Advocating for a constant, expanded child tax credit similar to the pandemic-era one — which is expected to reduce poverty, according to census data data — which eliminated the income requirement, increased the per-child amount and provided reimbursement in monthly installments.
The Democratic Party responded immediately to Vance’s absence from Thursday’s vote.
“When Americans vote in November, they will remember that when Vance had a chance to stand up for working families, he was nowhere to be found,” Democratic National Committee spokeswoman Aida Ross said in a statement after the vote.
Temporary tax cuts for families and businesses
This bicameral, bipartisan package was brokered by Wyden and Missouri Rep. Jason Smith, chairman of the GOP-led House Ways and Means Committee, which won overwhelming House approval in January 357-70 vote.
Lawmakers praised their move to fund the bill by recovering fraud-riddled money tax relief due to the pandemic. However, the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget warned that the policy would “significantly increase the already massive federal debt” if extended beyond its 2025 expiration date.
The legislation would increased the current $2,000 child tax credit through 2025 by adjusting it for inflation to $2,100 and raising the refund limit — the actual amount families can receive on their tax refund — to $1,800 for tax year 2023, $1,900 for 2024 and $2,000 for 2025, up from the current limit of $1,600.
In addition, the bill includes a provision that would allow families to count their previous year’s income, if it were higher than their current year’s income, when calculating their tax credit — a measure that caused fierce opposition from Republican senators who compared it to welfare.
The bill would also temporarily restore the ability for companies to fully deduct domestic R&D costs, as well as immediately deduct 100% of the costs of equipment purchases and other investments in the same year in which the transaction took place — both encouragement under the 2017 Trump tax law that have been phased out or are being phased out.
Business owners, CEOs and union activists persuaded in March the Senate Finance Committee to continue work on the bill.
The legislation also includes: increasing the amount of tax relief for social housing, eliminating double taxation for Taiwanese residents and tax exemption for preferential payments victims of the massive train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, in 2023 — although the Internal Revenue Service has largely addressed the case in June.
Supporters of the legislation include the Business Roundtable, which represents U.S. CEOs, and the Economic Security Project, an organization that advocates for increased tax breaks and a guaranteed basic income.
Anna Aurilio, senior campaign director at Economic Security Project Action, said in a statement after the vote that GOP senators are “selfishly putting politics above parents and brazenly ignoring this important opportunity to help families succeed now.”
“The expanded child tax credit has been a critical tool for millions of parents who have struggled to meet basic needs and should be made permanent in the tax reform fight of 2025,” Aurilio said.
