WASHINGTON — The Democratic-led Senate will hold a key test vote Thursday on a bipartisan bill to expand the child tax credit and provide some tax breaks for businesses.
But it’s not clear Democrats have enough Republican support to break a filibuster and advance the bill toward a final vote, as many GOP senators oppose it.
“This should be a no-brainer,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told reporters. “Right now, the only ones standing in the way are Senate Republicans. Everyone else, even House Republicans, are for this.”
The vote on the bill, which would provide the most financial help to multi-child households, comes as Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, the GOP vice presidential nominee, faces heated criticism over past remarks disparaging “childless cat ladies” and questioning the character of women who choose not to have kids. Vance is scheduled to visit the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona on Thursday and is expected to miss the vote. His office didn’t say how he’d vote if he were in Washington.
Asked about Vance’s labeling Democrats “anti-family,” Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who negotiated the bill with House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith, R-Mo., responded: “There’s a lot of weird stuff going on here.”
Democrats are casting the vote as a response to Vance, with Schumer saying Wednesday that most Republicans will vote against it even as they “say they care about families.” It will be the last vote the Senate casts before it leaves Washington for the August recess until Sept. 9. The House passed the child tax credit bill in January.
There is substantial Senate GOP opposition to the bill, led by Mike Crapo of Idaho, the ranking member of the Finance Committee, who is aligned with party leadership. He told NBC News this week that the bill is inadequately funded and doesn’t have enough conditions on the child tax credit to win his vote.
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., adamantly opposes the bill for similar reasons.
“They’ve lost me on the pay-for,” Tillis said. “The child tax credit doesn’t have any of some of the basic requirements that we would want. It needs to go back in the oven and come out with our tax reform next year.”
Tillis distributed pamphlets at a Senate GOP lunch meeting Tuesday as he rallies colleagues to oppose the bipartisan measure. The document read: “WYDEN-SMITH IS NOT THE TAX DEAL WE ARE LOOKING FOR.”
Wyden and Smith negotiated the legislation, which passed the House 357-70. It would expand child tax credits, lift the $1,600 ceiling on refundability and adjust the benefits for inflation — it’s designed to primarily help multi-child households with low incomes. The bill also includes business tax breaks for research and development and small-business expensing, an enticement that helped garner GOP support in the House.
At least one Republican, Sen. Josh Hawley, of Missouri, said he favors it.
“As Republicans, we should be in favor of helping people who want to have families,” Hawley said, adding that he doesn’t believe the GOP should be discussing women without children the way Vance did.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said she’s undecided on how to vote but voiced frustration that Schumer hasn’t committed to allowing amendments.
“I just don’t think that we’re giving serious focus to when you bring it up as the last vote. I’m assuming it’s going to be the last vote before we go on break. So that’s frustrating,” she said.
Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., a potential vice presidential candidate for Vice President Kamala Harris, went after Vance, calling his comments “obnoxious” and “just wrong,” ripping into Vance’s suggestion that parents should get more voting power than Americans without children.
“It doesn’t surprise me that he is not in favor [of] helping families that actually need help,” Kelly said. “I’d probably put him in the category with somebody like Donald Trump — trying to help out their billionaire friends and the wealthiest Americans, big corporations.”
Vance’s team responded aggressively.
“Before he started desperately trying out to be Kamala’s VP pick, little Mark Kelly sang a completely different tune about Senator Vance. He introduced legislation with him and said their work together would bring ‘good-paying jobs’ to every corner of every state,” Vance spokesperson William Martin told NBC News. “It will be enjoyable to watch this fraud get passed up for one of the half-rate Governors on Kamala’s shortlist.”
