On Tuesday, Sen. Corker voted yes on the tax plan, thereby passed the Senate Budget Committee. He supported it after reaching an agreement with the Senate leadership on a trigger mechanism to ensure fiscal responsibility.
However, during the final approval on the Senate floor, Sen. Corker remained concern about the deficit. He found out that the trigger he demanded would not pass Senates rules and would not be included in the legislation. He eventually voted against it.
In a statement, he explained, “This is yet another tough vote. I am disappointed. I wanted to get to yes. But at the end of the day, I am not able to cast aside my fiscal concerns and vote for legislation that I believe, based on the information I currently have, could deepen the debt burden on future generations.”
Sen. Corker fought to keep the tax legislation from worsening the country’s rapidly increasing $20 trillion debt.
Last month, the House of Representatives pass their version of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The two chambers will have a conference to reconcile bot legislation.
Democrats attack Republicans for lack of transparency
At the Senate floor and on social media, Democrats criticized their Republican colleagues for lack of transparency. They pointed out that there wasn’t enough time for them to read 479-page legislation with unreadable handwritten amendments.
