Senate GOP Wants to Pass Tax Plan by Thanksgiving, Cornyn Says

(Bloomberg) -- Senators may have to change their Thanksgiving plans -- they may wind up staying in Washington at least part of the week to pass a tax-cut bill, Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn said Thursday.

“We need to get the tax bill out of the Senate by Thanksgiving,” Cornyn, the Senate’s second-ranking Republican, told reporters. He said the Senate Finance Committee probably will start considering a bill during the week of Nov. 13 -- a week later than the House Ways and Means Committee will start on that chamber’s version. Currently, both houses plan to leave town for the full Thanksgiving week.

Cornyn said tax-writers now must find ways to at least partially pay for the proposed tax cuts, “the spinach” in the tax bill. “Not the dessert, but the spinach,” he said.

The advice leaders are giving to GOP lawmakers, he said, is “to keep your powder dry. This is going to be a package. Don’t take yourself off the playing field by saying that if one thing happens to be there, or not in there, that you’re not going to participate.” Many moderate Republicans are balking at proposals to limit the state and local tax deduction.

To contact the reporters on this story: Erik Wasson in Washington at ewasson@bloomberg.net, Laura Litvan in Washington at llitvan@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Kevin Whitelaw at kwhitelaw@bloomberg.net, Laurie Asséo

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