Senate Republicans plan to target Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., as part of their efforts to block Democrats’ attempt to move a sweeping tax reform bill through the chamber and on to President Joe Biden, The Hill reported on Wednesday.
Sinema has yet to back the legislation, known as the Inflation Reduction Act, and Democrats cannot afford a single defection in their ranks as they use a special budget process to get around a GOP filibuster.
South Dakota Sen. John Thune, the second-ranking Republican in the upper chamber, said, “We’re going to argue to her, and everybody else for that matter, that it’s just that this is a bad time with inflation and a wobbly economy to be raising taxes.”
The bill announced by Democrats last week includes a 15% minimum tax on corporations with profits of more than $1 billion, a funding increase for the IRS to boost hiring and enforcement of tax laws, proposed investments in clean energy, and language intended to reduce drug prices by permitting Medicare to negotiate the cost of some prescription drugs, according to The Hill.
Democrats insist the bill would raise $739 billion in revenue, citing estimates from CBO and the Joint Committee on Taxation, while it would spend some $433 billion on party-backed priorities in energy security, climate, and healthcare.
Republicans say the legislation will lead to higher taxes and increased inflation.
“If you look at all the analysis that’s been done, the distributional analysis and everything else shows that this hits a lot of lower-income Americans, contrary to what the Democrats have said,” Thune said.
Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, the No. 3 Republican in the Senate, added that “this bill shouldn’t pass and become law. It’s going to cause a lot of pain for the American people.”
GOP leaders hope to fill hundreds of amendments to the measure on such issues as immigration, healthcare, and taxes during a marathon voting session known as a vote-a-rama, as the minority is permitted to offer amendments before leaders bring the legislation to the Senate floor for a vote, The Hill reported.
