WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the GOP tax bill (all times local):
1:51 a.m.
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.
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1:35 a.m.
The Senate has voted to eliminate a tax break for a politically-connected conservative college in Michigan.
Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon proposed the amendment to eliminate the tax break for Hillsdale College in southern Michigan. He noted that Hillsdale has connections to powerful Republicans, including Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.
Merkley says, “Isn’t that just the type of insider deal for the wealthy and well-connected that we should oppose?”
The Senate Republicans’ sweeping tax package would impose a new tax on investment income earned by some private universities and colleges.
Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania added a provision exempting certain colleges that don’t receive federal funds. Democrats say Hillsdale was the only college that would benefit.
Merkley’s amendment was adopted by a 52-48 vote.
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1:20 a.m.
The Senate has given a green light to opening Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.
In a vote early Saturday morning, Republicans rejected an effort led by Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington state to block drilling.
The vote was 52-48. Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska has pushed for oil and gas drilling in the refuge.
Opening the remote refuge to oil and gas drilling is a longtime Republican priority that most Democrats fiercely oppose.
The 19.6-million acre refuge in northeastern Alaska is one of the most pristine areas in the United States and is home to polar bears, caribou, migratory birds and other wildlife.
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12:20 a.m.
The Senate has adopted an amendment that would allow parents to use 529 college funds to pay private school tuition for students in kindergarten through high school.
Parents could also use the tax-exempt funds on home-schooling expenses.
Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas offered the amendment to Senate Republicans’ sweeping tax package. The vote was a 50-50 tie with Vice President Mike Pence casting the tie-breaker.
All Senate Democrats opposed the measure. Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska were the only Republicans who voted against it.
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8:20 p.m.
Democrats have taken to the Senate floor to attack a planned amendment to the tax bill that would give a break to a conservative college in Michigan.
Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Patrick Toomey acknowledged he’d sponsored the language and said Hillsdale College would benefit from it.
Toomey defended Hillsdale as “a wonderful institution” and said other schools might qualify for the tax break, too. His provision would shield schools that receive no federal aid from language in the bill that taxes the investment income of some colleges and universities.
Democrats say Toomey’s provision was written in a way that only Hillsdale would qualify for the reduction. They complain that some well-known conservatives have connections to the school, including Trump administration Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.
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