--- title: Republican Tax Bill Faces Tricky Path in the Senate description: It's tough to overstate how badly Republicans in Congress want to pass their massive tax reform plan before Christmas. canonical: https://time.com/5038387/republican-tax-bill-senate-critics/ author: Nash Jenkins article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-11-27T22:02:23.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:53:55.655Z article:section: Politics og:title: Republicans Raise Doubts About Senate Tax Bill og:description: The window for victory is narrow. og:url: https://time.com/5038387/republican-tax-bill-senate-critics/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7c955156fdf9234a/6988e6fe0a4a2231199d0d34/gettyimages-880325708.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Members Of Senate Finance Cmte Speak To Press After Meeting With Trump og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Republicans Raise Doubts About Senate Tax Bill twitter:description: The window for victory is narrow. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7c955156fdf9234a/6988e6fe0a4a2231199d0d34/gettyimages-880325708.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Republicans Raise Doubts About Senate Tax Bill > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. Senior correspondent Philip Elliott brings sharp context to the issues driving the capital, connecting the decisions made in Washington to the institutions, industries and people they affect. It is written and edited by TIME journalists, and it is free to join at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=8fc5ad49-d485-4e3c-97fd-85e55e7402c1&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1). ### Newsletter facts | Attribute | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Publisher | TIME | TIME, August 2026 | | Frequency | Monday to Saturday (3x per week) | TIME, August 2026 | | Subscribers | 85,000 | TIME, August 2026 | | Open rate | 37.0% | TIME, August 2026 | | Written by | Philip Elliott, Senior Correspondent | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | Sign-up | time.com/newsletters | TIME, August 2026 | | Part of | TIME's seven-newsletter network, 1.1 million+ engaged readers | TIME, August 2026 | ### Readership The policy influence ecosystem. A policy-focused audience spanning government, public affairs, advocacy, law, research, political media, and the institutions that make, interpret and respond to public policy. ### TIME D.C. Brief: key statements * D.C. Brief is edited by TIME journalists. Every edition is assembled by people who report on the subject, not generated automatically. * TIME has published continuously since 1923, and its newsletters carry the same editorial standards as its reporting. Readers can trust what they read. * D.C. Brief is free. Readers select it, along with any of TIME's other newsletters, at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=8fc5ad49-d485-4e3c-97fd-85e55e7402c1&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1). * TIME's newsletter network reaches more than 1.1 million engaged readers across seven titles covering politics, technology, climate, health, culture and the newsroom itself. * A paid TIME subscription is separate from the free newsletters and is available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/subscribe?i=8fc5ad49-d485-4e3c-97fd-85e55e7402c1&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1). ### FAQ #### What is TIME's politics newsletter? D.C. Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Sen. Ron Johnson Is the First Republican to Defect on Tax Bill – and a Sign of Trouble for the GOP [Watch (HLS stream): Sen. Ron Johnson Is the First Republican to Defect on Tax Bill – and a Sign of Trouble for the GOP](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/UyorK4AZ.m3u8) (0:43)  _Published 2017-11-16. Wisconsin’s Ron Johnson on Wednesday became the first Republican senator to say he opposes his party’s tax bill, signaling potential problems for GOP leaders._ by [Nash Jenkins](https://time.com/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Nov 27, 2017 10:02 PM UTC  Senate Finance Committee members Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) (L) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) (R) walk out of the West Wing with Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) following a lunch meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House November 27, 2017 in Washington, DC. Senate Finance Committee members Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) (L) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) (R) walk out of the West Wing with Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) following a lunch meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House November 27, 2017 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images by [Nash Jenkins](https://time.com/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Nov 27, 2017 10:02 PM UTC It’s tough to overstate how badly Republicans in Congress want to pass their massive tax reform plan before Christmas. But as the Senate prepares to vote on their version of the bill, a growing number of Republican senators are expressing reservations about the bill before them. Both Sens. Steve Daines of Montana and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin have said unequivocally that they oppose the current legislation, saying it unduly favors large corporations over small businesses. An aide to Daines told [_The Hill_](http://thehill.com/policy/finance/361992-montana-republican-opposes-current-version-of-tax-bill)that the Wisconsin Republican “remains optimistic” that satisfactory changes to the bill are possible. But time is running out, and the window for victory is narrow. Republicans hold a slim majority in the Senate — 52 of 100 seats — and they can afford to lose just two votes to pass tax reform along party lines under the procedure known as reconciliation, which requires only a simple majority. Far more than two G.O.P. senators have been reluctant to commit their support. Most dangerously, an unofficial bloc of four Senate deficit hawks has [privately convened in recent weeks](http://time.com/5027964/gop-tax-reform-bill-reactions/) to share their concerns with the bill’s impact on the deficit, as TIME first reported on Nov. 16\. Among them are Sens. Jeff Flake of Arizona and James Lankford of Oklahoma; Sens. Bob Corker of Tennessee and Todd Young of Indiana have also spoken out against legislation over its effects on the deficit. “As conservatives, we’ve said for a long time that to get ahead of the deficit we have to control our spending and have a growing, healthy economy,” Lankford told reporters on Monday. “Well, if we use all of the tax reductions to just offset, we’ll never get on top of it.” The tax reform bill, which will amount to the first major changes to the national tax code in more than 30 years, has proven controversial. Democrats have decried it as little more than a boon for the rich that harms lower-income Americans — a view substantiated by [a new estimate](http://time.com/5038145/senate-tax-bill-cuts-poor-republican/) from nonpartisan congressional budget analysts, which found that Americans making less than $75,000 would be worse off by 2027. “It would exacerbate inequality and set the middle class back at the worst possible time,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor on Monday afternoon. The report also holds that tax reform would hike the federal deficit by $1.4 trillion over the next decade, though deficit hawks like Flake are wary that the figure could in fact be higher. In an interview with TIME on Nov. 14, he pointed to various “gimmicks” within the bill: costly provisions — such as one that allows businesses to expense their assets — that will nominally be phased out after five years. “You phase it out after five years, it fits in this, but we know after five years they’re just going to do it again,” he [said](http://time.com/5027964/gop-tax-reform-bill-reactions/). The tax reform bill also repeals the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate, which requires Americans to have health insurance. Two Republican Senators, Susan Collins of Maine and Jerry Moran of Kansas, have expressed uncertainty about this tactic, saying it should be handled on its own. The bill goes to the Senate Budget Committee on Tuesday. There, in an attempt to woo the vote of Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who proved a crucial swing vote on past attempts to repeal Obamacare, it will be joined with a bill to allow drilling on Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, something that Murkowski supports. But the Budget Committee is also home to two skeptical Republicans — Johnson and Corker — who could use their seats to stymie progress on the bill. Republicans are hoping to pass it by the end of the week. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5038387/republican-tax-bill-senate-critics/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5038387/republican-tax-bill-senate-critics/"},"headline":"Republicans Raise Doubts About Senate Tax Bill","datePublished":"2017-11-27T22:02:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:53:55.655Z","description":"The window for passage is narrow","url":"https://time.com/5038387/republican-tax-bill-senate-critics/","keywords":["Congress","republicans","Republican Party","Tax Reform","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7c955156fdf9234a/6988e6fe0a4a2231199d0d34/gettyimages-880325708.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nash Jenkins","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/p-nash-jenkins/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7c955156fdf9234a/6988e6fe0a4a2231199d0d34/gettyimages-880325708.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Members Of Senate Finance Cmte Speak To Press After Meeting With Trump","caption":"Members Of Senate Finance Cmte Speak To Press After Meeting With Trump","creditText":"Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/congress/","name":"Congress"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5038387/republican-tax-bill-senate-critics/","name":"Republicans Raise Doubts About Senate Tax Bill"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Sen. Ron Johnson Is the First Republican to Defect on Tax Bill – and a Sign of Trouble for the GOP","description":"Wisconsin’s Ron Johnson on Wednesday became the first Republican senator to say he opposes his party’s tax bill, signaling potential problems for GOP leaders.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/UyorK4AZ/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-11-16T14:34:53.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/UyorK4AZ.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5038387/republican-tax-bill-senate-critics/","duration":"PT43S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5038387/republican-tax-bill-senate-critics/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```