House Republicans are on the verge of enacting a sweeping tax overhaul, but they still don’t have enough votes to pass it.
| AP Photo The Latest on the tax bill (all times local):6:15 p.m.
The House on Wednesday is set to vote on a tax bill that Republicans say will benefit middle-class families and spur job growth.
The legislation will be sent to the Senate for consideration in a matter of weeks.
The Republican-controlled House is set for a special session next week to consider a tax cut that would benefit middle class families, including the nation’s poorest residents.
President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence are expected to sign the legislation, known as the American Taxpayer Relief Act, on Thursday afternoon.
The House is expected to approve the legislation on Wednesday evening.
President Trump tweeted early Wednesday morning that the legislation would “save a lot of middle class people and their families.”
But the bill would give corporations an enormous tax break, which critics say is a giveaway to large corporations and the wealthy.
Democrats have been pressuring House Speaker Paul Ryan to hold off on voting on the bill, which they say is an attempt to sabotage the legislation.
House Democrats have called the bill a “shell game” to make it easier for corporate lobbyists to use the legislation as a springboard to a tax-reform plan.
Ryan said on Wednesday that the House will vote on the measure “as soon as possible.”
House Republicans say they are moving forward on the legislation after more than two weeks of talks.
But Republicans are also looking to the tax code to show they are committed to their plan, and some Democrats are skeptical about the legislation’s potential impact on middle-income families.GOP leadership said Wednesday that they have reached agreement on how to pay for the tax overhaul.
That would be a major change from the previous two attempts to overhaul the tax system that were stalled in the House for nearly a year.
The plan would reduce the corporate tax rate to 15 percent from 35 percent, with the tax on investment income that is taxed at a rate of 20 percent.
The plan would also eliminate a tax break known as carried interest.