Bipartisan Tax Bill Fails In Senate

In their last action before leaving for August recess, Republicans in the United States Senate blocked consideration of a bill that would have expanded the Child Tax Credit and reinstated a number tax breaks for businesses.

The bill passed out of the House earlier this year with overwhelming bipartisan support.

There was no suspense going into yesterday's procedural vote -- Senate leaders knew there wasn't enough GOP support to get to the 60 yes votes needed to advance the legislation, but for one of Oklahoma's senators, that didn't matter.

"I’ll be voting for it 100 percent, it’s the right thing to do, it’s not politics for me," Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) said in an interview Thursday morning, prior to the vote.

One of just three Republicans to vote yes, Sen. Mullin says politics doomed the bill: Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) not allowing amendments and waiting until the day before the start of a long recess to bring it up; and some Republicans who, Mullin says, are convinced they can pass something better next year, when they expect to have reclaimed both the Senate and the White House.

Mullin says it’s a good bill, and they should take the win now.

"Get the win for the American people and quit playing politics with it and then if everything goes our way, let’s make it better next year," said Mullin. "That’s what I would do in the business world, but this isn’t business, this is called politics."

The tax package, whose $78 billion cost would be offset by ending the pandemic-era Employee Retention Tax Credit, would help businesses by reinstating tax breaks like R&D expensing and bonus depreciation, and help low to middle-income families by expanding the Child Tax Credit.

"There’s a lot of interest to be able to do some of the business tax pieces and even the child tax credit," said Senator James Lankford (R-OK) in an interview Thursday, but he says the retroactive nature of the tax credits would mean millions of Americans having to re-file their taxes, only to have these credits on the brink of expiration again next year.

"What some people may or may not know," explained Lankford, "in 2025, we’re going to talk about tax policy the entire year because the whole tax code expires in December 2025. So, next year is going to be wall to wall, every part of the tax code, and it is very important that people engage and be able to pay attention to this.

Lankford voted no on the tax bill Thursday.

Majority Leader Schumer changed his yes vote to no, meaning he could bring the bill up again at a later date, which he told reporters he might do in September.