House Vote On Bipartisan Tax Package Expected Today

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) appears set to bring the roughly USD$80 billion bipartisan and bicameral tax deal up for a vote today after overcoming a rebellion from moderate ‘blue-state’ Republicans.

• The bill will be brought to the floor under suspension of rules and require a two-thirds majority. First votes are expected at 16:00 ET 21:00 with late votes scheduled for 20:00 ET 01:00 GMT. If the bill passes the House it will be sent to the Senate. Summary of the package: HERE
• Yesterday, a group of mainly New York Republicans mirrored tactics regularly used by GOP conservatives by voting-down-the-rule on legislation to protest concerns over the absence of State and Local Tax (SALT) relief in the bill – prompting a hectic period of shuttle diplomacy from the speaker.
• House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) told reporters that “there might be,” a way to incorporate a concession on SALT but as Politico points out: “…most Republicans abhor the idea of handing a costly break to mostly blue-state taxpayers...”
• If Johnson presses ahead with a vote on the unamended package today, the bill is expected to pass the House with a strong bipartisan majority but yesterday's episode demonstrates Johnson’s tenuous control over both flanks of his party.
• Looking forward, the struggle to pass what should be a relatively straight-forward tax package foreshadows the more challenging job ahead for Johnson when he must convince his conference to line up behind FY2024 spending bills ahead of two government funding deadlines in early March.