Eighteen Republican senators, together with former Senate GOP Chief Mitch McConnell (Ky.), voted to advance an modification sponsored by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) to boost taxes on extremely rich revenue earners to assist rural hospitals going through steep Medicaid cuts.
The GOP senators voted for a movement to waive a price range point-of-order in opposition to Collins’s modification to ascertain a brand new $39.6 p.c tax bracket for people who earn greater than $25 million in annual revenue and married {couples} who earn greater than $50 million yearly.
The proposal could be used to double the dimensions of the agricultural hospital reduction fund within the GOP megabill from $25 billion to $50 billion.
The procedural movement failed on a lopsided vote of twenty-two to 78, however the consequence stunned some Senate insiders.
One senior Republican aide expressed shock that so many Republicans voted to boost taxes, even when on the nation’s very richest revenue earners.
“There was a time when Republicans used to have self-discipline on tax will increase. Grover should be pulling his hair out,” the aide stated, referring to Grover Norquist, the president of People for Tax Reform, an anti-tax advocacy group that asks members of Congress to pledge to not increase taxes.
“I suppose it’s Trump’s Republican Occasion,” the supply noticed, referring to President Trump’s extra populist view of financial coverage.
Trump wrote on social media final month that he could be “OK” with elevating taxes on the wealthiest People.
Trump broached the topic once more within the Oval Workplace final month when requested about elevating taxes on the very richest people to offset tax cuts for middle- and working-class households.
“I’d love to do this, frankly,” Trump informed reporters.
Republican Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.), Invoice Cassidy (La.), John Curtis (Utah), Deb Fischer (Neb.), Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Josh Hawley (Mo.), Jon Husted (Ohio), Cindy Hyde-Smith (Miss.), John Kennedy (La.), Roger Marshall (Kan.), McConnell, Jerry Moran (Kan.), Bernie Moreno (Ohio), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Dan Sullivan (Alaska), Roger Wicker (Miss.) and Todd Younger (Ind.) voted to help the measure.
Collins additionally voted to waive the point-of-order objection in opposition to her proposal.