Senate GOP blocks tax bill as Democrats spotlight child credit in election-year push
CNN
Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked a bipartisan tax package that would have temporarily expanded the child tax credit and restored some business tax benefits.
Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked a bipartisan tax package that would have temporarily expanded the child tax credit and restored some business tax benefits. The bill failed to advance in a procedural vote of 48-44, short of the 60 it required to succeed. Democrats brought up the vote, which was expected to fail, as they seek to spotlight the child tax credit in a political messaging push ahead of the November elections, giving vulnerable members of their party a chance to vote to expand the tax credit and putting Republicans on the spot over the issue. The bipartisan tax bill passed the Republican-led House earlier this year, but has run into resistance from some Republicans in the Senate. Following House passage of the bill, some Senate Republicans raised issues with the legislation, with some saying they wanted to push for it to be amended. In the run-up to elections, Democrats have put a series of bills on the Senate floor that have failed to advance due to GOP opposition, including legislation related to contraception and IVF., issues that Democrats see as politically popular. Republicans have criticized what they have called a “summer of show votes.” The Senate passed legislation on Tuesday, however, aimed at protecting children online in a broad bipartisan vote.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk has issued a series of political predictions this week, based on strong Republican showings in early voting turnout data, that former President Donald Trump is “trending toward a crushing victory” in Pennsylvania and that Vice President Kamala Harris should even be “worried about losing Virginia.”