Trump to Meet with House Republicans for Final Push Ahead of Tax Reform Vote

CLEVELAND, OH - JULY 21: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump gives two thumbs u
Chip Somodevilla/Getty
Sean Moran

President Donald Trump will speak before the House Republican conference Thursday morning as the GOP tax reform platform continues to gain momentum.

The House could vote on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act as early as Thursday.

House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) told reporters that he’s confident that the House tax reform bill has enough votes to pass through the lower chamber.

“We don’t anticipate major changes. A lot of the work’s been done,” Brady said.

Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) said that Republican leaders will spend most of this week lobbying rank-and-file members. The House can still make last minute changes to the tax through a “manager’s amendment” in the Rules Committee on Wednesday.

The Senate continues to markup their version of the Senate bill, which features more aggressive tax cuts for the middle-class and less generous tax cuts for the wealthy.

On Monday, President Trump called for the Republican tax plan to reduce the rate for the wealthiest Americans to drop to 35 percent from 39.6 percent and to eliminate Obamacare’s individual mandate.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) announced on Tuesday that he intends to add an amendment to Senate tax bill that would repeal Obamacare’s individual mandate.

Paul tweeted, “Today I am announcing my intention to amend the Senate tax bill to repeal the individual mandate and provide bigger tax cuts for middle-income taxpayers. The mandate repeal is a promise we all made and we should keep. It also allows an additional $300 billion+ in tax cuts.”

Reports on Tuesday revealed that Senate Republicans continue to conduct a whip count to see if they have the votes to repeal Obamacare or the individual mandate in the Republican tax bill.

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