Senate passes GOP tax bill; Sherrod Brown says it favors corporations, hurts Medicare

WASHINGTON (AP)

The Senate has passed a nearly $1.5 trillion Republican tax bill that’s historic in scope and an urgent political priority for President Donald Trump and the GOP.

The vote was 51-49, largely along party lines. Not a single Democrat voted in favor of the legislation, which was crafted behind closed doors by Senate Republican leaders. Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker, who calls the growing debt a national security threat, joined Democrats in opposing the bill.

The bill lays the bulk of its tax cuts on businesses and higher-earning individuals and gives more modest breaks to others.

It would bring the first major overhaul of the U.S. tax system in three decades. The measure must be reconciled with a version the House passed last month.

Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown of Cleveland called the plan a missed opportunity to cut taxes for working Ohioans. Throughout Friday's process, Brown offered several amendments, including one to expand the child tax credit and another to cut taxes only for corporations that do not send jobs overseas. The amendments were blocked from passage.

“Tax reform should have been an opportunity to work together to cut taxes for working people," Brown said in a statement."I offered to work with the President and Republicans, and I introduced multiple amendments that could have put real money in the pockets of Ohioans. Instead Washington chose to cut taxes for corporations that send American jobs overseas, blow a hole in the deficit, and pay for it by cutting Medicare and kicking people off their health insurance.”