Senate Majority Leader Senator Mitch McConnell walks to the Senate Floor on Capitol Hill on Dec. 1. | Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images Senate passes sweeping tax overhaul Debate spilled into the wee hours after a day of horse trading. 
 
 The Senate narrowly passed a massive tax overhaul early Saturday morning, putting Republicans on the cusp of revamping the U.S. tax system for the first time in more than three decades. 
 
 The 51 to 49 vote came after Senate Republicans frantically rewrote the multi-trillion dollar legislation behind closed doors to win over several final holdouts, and left congressional Republicans just a few steps away from sending legislation to President Donald Trump’s desk. The House passed its own plan in November. 
 
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 Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee was the only Republican to oppose the measure, in what’s also a big victory for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who repeatedly fell short in his efforts to push through an Obamacare repeal measure this year. 
 
 “I think one reason we were able to get there was because there’s widespread interest,” McConnell said in an interview with POLITICO. “Every single member of our conference wanted to get to yes, and all but one did.” 
 
 President Donald Trump praised McConnell and Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch in a tweet after the bill passed, adding, “We are one step closer to delivering MASSIVE tax cuts for working families across America.” 
 
 McConnell and GOP leaders were able to score the necessary votes on Friday by acceding to demands by Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and others for expanded tax breaks for small businesses, homeowners and others. That gave leadership the breathing room to reject conflicting demands by Corker and others to rein in the cost of the plan. 
 
 Democrats harshly condemned the legislation and the way it came together. 
 
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 "Millions of Americans must be watching in stunned disbelief tonight as the Republican Senate betrays the middle class for the benefit of faceless multinational corporations," Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the top Democrat on the tax-writing Finance Committee, said on the Senate floor shortly before the bill passed. 
 
 Democrats also ridiculed the GOP scramble to get the bill passed and the frequent rounds of horse trading required. Minority Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois posted a picture on Twitter that showed hand-scribbled changes on a page from the initial version of the lengthy Republican amendment to the legislation. 
 
 “Trying to review the #GOPTaxScam but they are making hand-written changes to brand new text as we speak – can anyone else read this?” Durbin jabbed. 
 
 Debate on the legislation spilled past midnight as the Senate debated numerous amendments, including one from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) that would extend tax-advantaged “529” college saving accounts to public, private and religious K-12 schools. It was adopted on a 51-50 vote after Vice President Mike Pence broke a tie. 
 
 The Senate struck a controversial provision from Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) that would have exempted Hillsdale College, a prominent conservative institution led by a Heritage Foundation board member, from a controversial new tax on university endowments. The school also has close ties to the family of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. 
 
 House and Senate Republicans still have to settle the differences between their tax bills before Trump can sign a final bill, which would give the GOP the legislative achievement they’ve sought throughout their first year of regaining full control in Washington. 
 
 The House plans to vote Monday to formally set up a conference committee to hash out a final compromise, though some of the changes that Senate Republicans agreed to Friday also brought the two measures closer together. 
 
 “Now it’s time to take the best of both the House and Senate bills, make them even stronger in a conference committee, and finalize one piece of legislation that will dramatically improve the lives of Americans for generations to come,” Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas), chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, said in a statement after the Senate vote. 
 
 However, Senate leaders haven’t publicly committed to a formal conference. 
 
 Republicans are using powerful budget procedures to evade a Democratic filibuster of the bill, which allowed McConnell to lose up to two GOP votes and still pass the bill. After struggling all week to corral at least 50 votes for the tax measure, Senate GOP leaders ended up appeasing all but Corker. 
 
 Tax Reform: Who Pays What? poster="http://v.politico.com/images/1155968404/201708/2289/1155968404_5544094581001_5544019579001-vs.jpg?pubId=1155968404" true 
 
 Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) won a string of concessions for her vote, including a provision that would allow taxpayers to continue writing off property taxes, albeit with a $10,000 limit, and an expanded deduction for medical costs. 
 
 “As revised, this bill will provide much-needed tax relief and simplification for lower- and middle-income families, while spurring the creation of good jobs and greater economic growth,” Collins said. 
 
 In a particularly big victory for leadership, Johnson and Steve Daines (R-Mont.), both of whom had announced in recent weeks that they couldn’t support the bill, were won over by a proposal that would increase a tax deduction for pass-through businesses. They had complained that the Senate bill offered more tax relief to corporations than to pass-throughs, which are businesses – often small ones -- that pay taxes as individuals. 
 
 Those businesses would see a deduction included in the Senate bill for them rise from 20 percent to 23 percent, a boost financed by increasing a proposed one-time tax on multinational corporations’ offshore earnings. The multinational provision also puts the Senate bill in line with the House measure, by charging 14 percent on those companies' liquid assets and 7 percent on illiquid ones like facilities, up from the 10 percent and 5 percent the Senate had been considering. 
 
 “We’re going to have to reconcile that anyway, and might as well reconcile up front here to take care of our issue,” Johnson told reporters. 
 
 Though Johnson’s vote was likely never truly in doubt, he could have held out for more changes, which would have further handcuffed leaders as they tried to satisfy a duo of stubborn fiscal hawks alarmed that the measure would blow up federal budget deficits. A Joint Committee on Taxation report on Thursday found the proposal would add an extra $1 trillion to the federal debt over the next decade, even after considering economic growth. 
 
 Both Corker and Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) pushed for a trigger mechanism that would have forced automatic tax increases if the bill didn’t jog the economy as much as Republicans hope. The Senate parliamentarian found that such a mechanism would violate complicated procedural rules, scotching a vote on the bill Thursday night and sending Republicans scrambling for alternatives. 
 
 Corker said Friday that he had “wanted to get to yes,” thanked GOP leaders and Trump for working with him in good faith and maintained that he would take another look at whatever measure might emerge from a conference committee. But he added that while “it would have been fairly easy to alter the bill in a way that would have been more fiscally sound without harming the pro-growth policies, unfortunately, it is clear that the caucus is in a different place.” 
 
 Unlike Corker, Flake supported the bill in the end, after securing language that phases down write-offs for business investments that had been slated to abruptly expire at the end of 2022. The Arizona Republican also got a “firm commitment” by party leaders to “work with me” on “fair and permanent protections” for undocumented immigrants threatened with deportation by Trump’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. 
 
 “Having secured both of these objections, I am pleased to announce I will vote in support [of] the tax reform bill,” he said in a statement. 
 
 GOP leaders also had to make changes elsewhere in the bill to fund some of the policy promises they had made. That included dropping plans to repeal the alternative minimum tax -- a complicated batch of rules designed to prevent people from dodging taxes -- that had been a key part of Republican plans to radically simplify the code. 
 
 Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) said they needed the money to finance other last-minute changes to the bill, including the expanded tax cut for pass-through businesses and the property tax deduction. 
 
 “Most members felt very strongly that we wanted a property tax exemption for individuals,” Rounds said. “The trade-off is there.” 
 
 Congressional Republicans have said in recent weeks that they don’t want to go into the 2018 midterm elections without a tax cut to show to voters. But it’s an open question just how much a victory on taxes will help Republicans politically. 
 
 The GOP proposals, which feature a large permanent cut in the corporate tax rate and temporary tax relief for individuals, have consistently polled poorly with voters. 
 
 Democrats have predicted that Republicans will end up paying a steep political price. But on Friday, Democratic leaders were mostly enraged by both the substance and process of the tax push. Most Democrats even voted against an amendment from Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), which was rejected, that would have further expanded the child tax credit while pushing the proposed corporate rate up from 20 percent to almost 21 percent. 
 
 Aaron Lorenzo, Jane Norman and Michael Stratford contributed to this report. ||||| CLOSE House and Senate Democrats protested the tax legislation that is now under consideration in conference, first urging delay until newly-elected Alabama Democratic Senator Doug Jones is seated and then blasting the bill as gift to the wealthy. (Dec. 13) AP 
 
 Marco Rubio speaks during a rally in Nashua, N.H., on Feb. 8, 2016. (Photo: Michael Reynolds, EPA) 
 
 WASHINGTON — A sweeping overhaul of the tax code gained significant momentum on Friday as GOP negotiators in the House and Senate signed off on a final agreement that sweetened a key tax credit and wavering GOP senators announced their support. 
 
 Raising the child tax credit won over at least one GOP holdout, Sen. Marco Rubio, who said on Friday he would be a yes after threatening to scuttle the deal only 24 hours earlier. 
 
 And in a major reversal, Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, said Friday he would support the bill, despite voting against a similar bill earlier this month because of concerns it would add to the national debt. 
 
 “This bill is far from perfect, and left to my own accord, we would have reached bipartisan consensus on legislation that avoided any chance of adding to the deficit,” Corker said in a statement Friday. He said he decided to support the bill now because the country is “better off with it” than without it. 
 
 Those two new "yes" votes put the bill on solid ground for final passage next week. Supporters of the bill exuded confidence on Friday that they would have the votes when the final tallies are called. But there are at least a few wildcards left in the GOP deck: along with several senators who remain undecided on the bill, two have missed votes this week because of medical issues. 
 
 Republicans hold a narrow 52-48 majority in the Senate, so they can only lose two GOP votes and still pass a bill with Vice President Mike Pence serving as a tiebreaker. All the Senate’s Democrats are expected to oppose the measure. 
 
 The tax bill passed its final procedural hurdle Friday just after noon when the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas, said Republicans had signed off on the report of a House-Senate conference committee and would release the text Friday night. 
 
 "I’m confident at the end of the day the Senate will approve this conference committee report because no one should be defending the status quo, the horrible tax code Americans have had to live with for too long," Brady said. 
 
 Friday's final deal included a last-minute provision added to win over two GOP hold-outs: Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Mike Lee of Utah. Those two lawmakers sought a boost in the child tax credit, so GOP negotiators agreed to plump it up for low-income families. 
 
 The current tax code provides a credit of up to $1,000 per child to parents, but that break phases out for those with incomes above $110,000. 
 
 Under the agreement reached on Friday, the credit would increase to $2,000 per child, and the income cutoff would go to $500,000. In addition, $1,400 of the credit would be refundable, meaning that parents could get that amount from the government even if their wages were so low they did not owe income tax. 
 
 That's $300 more than GOP negotiators agreed to earlier this week — a change made after Rubio and Lee threatened to torpedo the measure without a more generous credit. 
 
 The change was enough to get Rubio's support. He said on Twitter that making 70% of the total credit refundable "is a solid step toward broader reforms which are both pro-growth and pro-worker. But there is still much more to do in the months and years to come." 
 
 For far too long, Washington has ignored and left behind the American working class. Increasing the refundability of the Child Tax Credit from 55% to 70% is a solid step toward broader reforms which are both Pro-Growth and Pro-Worker. — Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) December 15, 2017 
 
 He thanked Lee, as well as Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina and Ivanka Trump, the president's daughter and adviser who also advocated for the credit. 
 
 Lee said in a statement he was leaning in favor of the bill Friday, though still reviewing the details. 
 
 “I look forward to reading the full text of the bill and, hopefully, supporting it,” Lee said. 
 
 Asked about Rubio and Lee as he left the White House for a speech Friday, President Trump was confident. 
 
 “They want to see it done,” Trump said. “I know how they feel. These are great people and they want to see it done, and they want to see it done properly.” 
 
 Two other Republican senators remained undecided: Jeff Flake of Arizona and Susan Collins of Maine — with each weighing different concerns. 
 
 Adding to the uncertainty: Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is undergoing treatment for brain cancer and was hospitalized this week at Walter Reed Medical Center. And Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., had outpatient surgery on Monday to remove a lesion on his nose, said his spokesman Chris Gallegos, and “the procedure was more extensive than expected.” 
 
 Sen. Rob Portman, an Ohio Republican who helped negotiate the final deal, said he was confident Republicans would have the votes for Senate passage. He said he expected both McCain and Cochran to be in Washington next week despite their medical problems. 
 
 Asked if Republicans could pass the bill without McCain’s vote, Portman said: “I don’t want to go there, because I think John McCain will be here.” 
 
 “He’s having a tough time, but I’m told that he will be here next week and voting,” Portman said. “More importantly we all wish him the best of health.” 
 
 Contributing: Eliza Collins and Ledyard King 
 
 Read more: 
 
 Changes coming in the tax bill to be released Friday, and some of the reasons for them 
 
 Why is President Trump still talking about a tax bill instead of signing one? 
 
 Trump says Republicans are just 'days away' from tax cut bill – maybe 
 
 Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2AB73Xa ||||| Republicans late Friday afternoon unveiled the final text of their bill to rewrite the tax code, which they are racing to send to President Trump Donald John TrumpTrump officials to announce closure of Palestinian Liberation Organization office in DC: report Alibaba's Jack Ma to step down as chairman in 2019 Trump expected to soon declassify Carter Page, Bruce Ohr documents: report MORE’s desk before Christmas. 
 
 Like the bills that came before it, the legislation produced by the House-Senate conference committee would result in massive changes to the tax system, cutting rates for many individuals and businesses while placing new limitations on tax breaks. (Read the bill here.) 
 
 "I'm very excited about this moment. It's been 31 years in the making and took a lot of hard work by a lot of people to make this day happen. I'm proud of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act," said Rep. Kevin Brady Kevin Patrick BradyDems vow to grab Trump tax returns upon taking majority Overnight Health Care: Kavanaugh questioned if Roe v. Wade was 'settled law' in leaked email | Senate to vote next week on opioid package | Officials seek to jail migrant children indefinitely | HHS chief, lawmakers meet over drug prices On The Money: GOP shrugs off Trump shutdown threat | Trump warns Japan ties could sour over trade | US businesses add 163k workers in August | House GOP huddles on 'tax cut 2.0' MORE (R-Texas), the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. 
 
 The measure appears on track for passage next week, after getting a jolt of momentum Friday from Sens. Marco Rubio Marco Antonio RubioGOP turns its fire on Google Bringing literacy to the world A path forward on paid family leave MORE (R-Fla.) and Bob Corker Robert (Bob) Phillips CorkerDurbin: GOP responded to anonymous NY Times op-ed with 'silence of the lambs' GOP senator: ‘Who wouldn’t’ write anonymous op-ed against White House? Poll: Blackburn, Bredesen locked in tight Senate race in Tennessee MORE (R-Tenn.), who both announced their support. 
 
 The House will vote on the bill first, on Tuesday, and then the Senate will vote. 
 
 Under the final bill, the top individual rate would be lowered from 39.6 percent to 37 percent, which is lower than the top rate in the original bills passed by the House and Senate. The corporate tax rate would be cut from 35 percent to 21 percent, up from 20 percent in the original bills. 
 
 The measure has seven individual tax brackets, and like both the House and Senate bills, substantially increases the standard deduction. 
 
 It also increases the child tax credit from $1,000 to $2,000, as the Senate bill did, and increases the maximum amount that is refundable to $1,400, up from $1,100 in the original Senate measure. The latter change was made to secure Rubio’s vote. 
 
 The legislation preserves the deductions for mortgage interest and charitable giving, though it lowers the cap on the mortgage deduction from $1 million to $750,000. 
 
 Seeking to win over House Republicans from high-tax states, the conference committee legislation caps the state and local tax deduction at $10,000, with filers allowed to deduct property taxes and state and local income and sales taxes. 
 
 Several popular tax preferences that were eliminated in the House bill are preserved. They include the deduction for medical expenses, the deduction for student-loan interest, the exclusion for graduate students’ tuition waivers and the ability to issue tax-exempt private-activity bonds. 
 
 
 
 The bill does not repeal the estate tax or the alternative minimum tax for individuals, both long-time goals for Republicans, but it does increase the exemption amounts. The corporate alternative minimum tax, which was retained in the Senate bill, is eliminated, a change that is certain to please the business community. 
 
 The final bill provides tax relief to pass-through businesses — entities such as small businesses whose income is taxed through the individual code — through a 20-percent deduction. 
 
 Sen. Rob Portman Robert (Rob) Jones PortmanOvernight Health Care: Kavanaugh questioned if Roe v. Wade was 'settled law' in leaked email | Senate to vote next week on opioid package | Officials seek to jail migrant children indefinitely | HHS chief, lawmakers meet over drug prices Senate to vote next week on opioid package Restoring our national parks would be a bipartisan win for Congress MORE (R-Ohio), a member of the conference committee, said the structure of the final bill hews closer to the Senate's version because of the pass-through provisions. The Senate’s policies were “viewed as simpler,” Portman said. 
 
 The measure also moves the U.S. to a territorial tax system that generally does not subject American companies’ foreign earnings to U.S. taxes. Companies’ current offshore earnings would be taxed at rates of 15.5 percent for liquid assets and 8 percent for illiquid assets, which are higher rates than in both the House and Senate bills. 
 
 Like the Senate bill, the legislation repeals ObamaCare’s individual insurance mandate starting in 2019 and allows for drilling in a portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. 
 
 Republicans are advancing the measure through a process called reconciliation that prevents a filibuster from Democrats in the Senate. Under reconciliation, bills can’t add to the deficit after 10 years, so the bill’s tax cuts for individuals expire after eight years. The corporate tax changes and individual mandate repeal are permanent. 
 
 The House and the Senate are expected to approve the bill next week and send it to Trump, delivering him his first major legislative victory. 
 
 Republicans have long wanted to rewrite the tax code, arguing that doing so would boost economic growth and lead to more job creation. 
 
 The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates the bill will lower federal revenue by $1.456 trillion over 10 years — a key finding, as the bill cannot add more than $1.5 trillion in debt and qualify for special Senate rules. 
 
 Most analysts doubt that the economic growth from the bill will offset the revenue losses, but GOP lawmakers and the White House disagree. They say the changes to the tax code will unleash business investment. 
 
 Corker, who voted against the original Senate bill because of deficit concerns, said in a statement Friday that he will vote for the final package because he thinks the bill accompanied with other policies “could have significant positive impact on the well-being of Americans and help drive additional foreign direct investment in Tennessee.” 
 
 While Rubio's and Corker’s support boosts the odds for passage, several GOP senators have not yet announced how they will vote, including Sens. Susan Collins Susan Margaret CollinsKavanaugh's abortion views under new scrutiny Collins’s office received 3,000 coat hangers protesting Kavanaugh Trump in good shape to secure second Supreme Court confirmation victory MORE (Maine) and Jeff Flake Jeffrey (Jeff) Lane FlakeTrump in good shape to secure second Supreme Court confirmation victory Trump slams anonymous NYT op-ed at rally: 'Is it treason?' Overnight Defense: Officials rush to deny writing anonymous op-ed | Lawmakers offer measure on naming NATO headquarters after McCain | US, India sign deal on sharing intel MORE (Ariz.). 
 
 Republicans expect Sens. John McCain John Sidney McCainA for effort, F for execution: Grading the NYT op-ed GOP senator says he 'regularly' considers leaving Republican Party Trump in good shape to secure second Supreme Court confirmation victory MORE (R-Ariz.) and Thad Cochran William (Thad) Thad CochranTrump endorses Hyde-Smith in Mississippi Senate race GOP Senate candidate doubles down on Robert E. Lee despite Twitter poll GOP Senate candidate polls followers on whether Robert E. Lee was hero or villain MORE (R-Miss.) to return to the Senate to vote for the tax bill. Both missed votes this week because of health issues. 
 
 Democrats are expected to remain united in opposition against the bill. They say the measure provides most of its benefits to wealthy individuals and corporations and would end up raising taxes on some middle-class families. 
 
 - Scott Wong contributed. This story was updated at 6:32 p.m. ||||| The Senate early on New Year's Day voted overwhelmingly in favor of a "fiscal cliff" deal that would extend tax rates on annual household incomes under $450,000 and postpone automatic spending cuts for two months. 
 
 The bill was approved in an 89-8 vote that came after only 10 minutes of formal floor debate and no official score from the Congressional Budget Office. The Joint Committee on Taxation estimated it would reduce federal revenue by $3.93 trillion over the next decade compared to current law. 
 
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 Five Republicans and three Democrats voted against the bill: Sens.(D-Colo.),(D-Del.),(R-Iowa),(D-Iowa),(R-Utah),(R-Ky.),(R-Fla.) and Richard Shelby (R-Ala.). 
 
 Sens. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), Mark Kirk Mark Steven KirkThis week: Trump heads to Capitol Hill Trump attending Senate GOP lunch Tuesday High stakes as Trump heads to Hill MORE (R-Ill.) and Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) missed the vote. 
 
 The 89-8 vote puts pressure on the GOP-led House to approve the legislation, though it remains to be seen if most House Republicans will back a bill that would add to the deficit and lacks the deep spending cuts that conservatives have been calling for. 
 
 
 
 It is unclear when the House will vote to pass or possibly amend the Senate-passed measure. House Republicans plan to huddle on the issue at 1 p.m. 
 
 House Republican Leader Eric Cantor Eric Ivan CantorCrowley loss warns of volatile voters Crowley surprise tops huge night for left Political stunner! Crowley knocked off by millennial challenger MORE (R-Va.) told Reuters on Tuesday that no decision had been made on when his chamber will vote on the Senate-passed bill. Cantor said a decision could come later Tuesday. A 90-minute meeting of Senate Democrats ending shortly before midnight sealed the deal negotiated between Vice President Biden and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellTrump to announce Supreme Court pick July 9; two women on short list On The Money: Canada to slap tariffs on US goods this weekend | Trump touts tax law on 6-month anniversary | Kudlow says rising deficit is falling, hopes Fed delays rate hikes Black senators introduce anti-lynching bill MORE (Ky.). The passage of the bill is a significant victory for Biden, who might run for president in 2016, and McConnell, who is up for reelection next year. 
 
 
 
 The legislation would indefinitely extend the Bush-era income tax rates on individual incomes up to $400,000 and family incomes up to $450,000. Also, it sets the estate tax rate at 40 percent, up from 35 percent, and exempts inheritances below $5 million. 
 
 It would postpone the automatic spending cuts known as the sequester for two months and offset the $24 billion cost of the delay with a mix of spending cuts and new revenues. The measure would also extend unemployment benefits for one year without offsetting their impact on the deficit, preventing 2 million people from losing government assistance. 
 
 And it would prevent a hike in congressional pay that was authorized in an executive order from President Obama to raise federal worker pay. 
 
 Biden made a late-night visit to Capitol Hill to convince Democrats to back the agreement, but he did not need to do much arm-twisting. 
 
 "I am feeling very, very good. I think we'll get a very good vote tonight,’ Biden said, leaving the meeting with Democrats. 
 
 Obama called on the House to pass the Senate measure "without delay." 
 
 "This agreement will also grow the economy and shrink our deficits in a balanced way – by investing in our middle class, and by asking the wealthy to pay a little more," Obama said in a statement following the vote. 
 
 "There’s more work to do to reduce our deficits, and I’m willing to do it," he added. 
 
 Senate approval sends the bill to the House, where Speaker John Boehner John Andrew BoehnerVeterans are left out of medical marijuana protections Former top Treasury official to head private equity group GOP strategist Steve Schmidt denounces party, will vote for Democrats MORE (R-Ohio) said the House will review the Senate bill. 
 
 With the stage set for a New Year’s Day vote, it remains unclear if the House will vote on the bill before Thursday, when the 113th Congress will be sworn in. 
 
 
 
 “The House will honor its commitment to consider the Senate agreement if it is passed,” Boehner John Andrew BoehnerVeterans are left out of medical marijuana protections Former top Treasury official to head private equity group GOP strategist Steve Schmidt denounces party, will vote for Democrats MORE said. “Decisions about whether the House will seek to accept or promptly amend the measure will not be made until House members — and the American people — have been able to review the legislation.” 
 
 
 
 Boehner is not a fan of moving significant legislation in lame-duck sessions, and he has made it a top priority to give members and the public time to read bills before scheduling votes on them. 
 
 
 
 The bill would appear to be a hard sell with House Republicans, many of whom objected to an earlier bill sought by Boehner that extended tax rates on annual incomes under $1 million as a tax hike. However, unlike Boehner's "Plan B" bill, the Senate-passed measure will attract significant support from House Democrats. 
 
 The Senate measure includes few spending cuts, which House Republicans have repeatedly demanded. 
 
 “I don’t see any balance yet, that’s the fundamental problem,” Rep. Jason Chaffetz Jason ChaffetzTucker Carlson: Ruling class cares more about foreigners than their own people Fox's Kennedy chides Chaffetz on child migrants: 'I’m sure these mini rapists all have bombs strapped to their chests' After FBI cleared by IG report, GOP must reform itself MORE (R-Utah) told The Hill. “If you don’t cut spending, there’s no way you’re going to pick up Republican votes.” 
 
 Heritage Action for American, a conservative advocacy group, urged lawmakers to oppose the deal. 
 
 “To be clear, this is a tax increase. In 2013, the top marginal rate, death tax, and taxes on long-term capital gains and dividends will all be higher than in 2012. Comparing tax rates to hypothetical rates that have hardly any support is nothing more than misleading Washington spin,” the group declared in a statement. 
 
 Liberal groups and labor unions have begun to line up against the deal, as well. They complained the White House and Democrats were giving up too much, particularly after Obama campaigned on a pledge to raise tax rates on households with annual income above $250,000. 
 
 “We just finished an election in which the American people made clear that they want the wealthiest 2 percent to finally pay their fair share of taxes, but this agreement fails to meet that test,” said Justin Ruben, executive director of MoveOn.org. “Voters gave President Obama a mandate to end the Bush tax cuts for those making more than $250,000. He has not delivered.” 
 
 “Its [sic] not a good fiscal cliff deal if it gives more tax cuts to 2 percent and sets the stage for more hostage taking,” AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka wrote in a Twitter post on Monday night. 
 
 House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) remained non-committal publicly but has signed off the deal in private, according to a source familiar with the talks. 
 
 “I understand at the present time, Senate Democrats are meeting with the Vice President. When a final agreement is reached and passed by the Senate, I will present it to the House Democratic Caucus,” she said in a statement. 
 
 Some Senate Democrats balked at the last minute over a Republican demand to index the estate tax exemption for inflation, but finally relented after centrists such as Sen. Max Baucus Max Sieben BaucusClients’ Cohen ties become PR liability Green Party puts Dem seat at risk in Montana Business groups worried about Trump's China tariffs plan MORE (D-Mont.) weighed in to support the provision. 
 
 In the end, both Democratic and Republican senators concluded it was better to accept a deal despite their objections than go over the fiscal cliff. 
 
 “There is a feeling, again, that it’s not that this proposal is regarded as great or is loved, in any way, but it’s a lot better than going over the cliff,” Sen. Charles Schumer Charles (Chuck) Ellis SchumerOvernight Health Care: Judge blocks Kentucky Medicaid work requirements | Trump officials consider cuts to ObamaCare outreach | House probes HHS office in charge of migrant children Overnight Health Care: Amazon enters the pharmacy business | Two Republicans to play pivotal role in Supreme Court abortion fight | Senate panel approves medical research boost Lewandowski: Pelosi is not the leader of the Democratic Party MORE (D-N.Y.) said. 
 
 Senate Republicans also said an imperfect deal is better than letting middle-class families get hit with income tax increases and $109 billion in domestic and defense spending cuts take place. 
 
 Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) said: "It's not something that any of us would say, 'Oh, I love it.' I don't love it, but I think it is a very good job of negotiating where there are some wins and some losses and it's about even." 
 
 The legislation will add trillions of dollars to the federal deficit over the next 10 years compared to current law, under which the Bush-era tax rates expired at midnight. White House officials and Senate Democratic aides said tax increases on the wealthy would raise about $620 billion in revenue compared to current policy. 
 
 The bill includes a host of tax rate extensions, including five-year extensions of the college tuition tax credit, the child tax credit and the earned income tax credit, which were part of the 2009 economic stimulus package. 
 
 It sets the capital gains and dividends tax rate at 20 percent, up from 15 percent. Capital gains and dividend income would be taxed at 23.8 percent for singles earning above $400,000 annually and families earning more than $450,000, according to a White House fact sheet. 
 
 It reinstates the Clinton-era limit itemized deductions for individuals earning more than $250,000 a year and families earning above $300,000. 
 
 It permanently patches the Alternative Minimum Tax and extends a variety of expiring business and energy tax provisions for one year, including the research and experimentation tax credit and 50 percent bonus depreciation. 
 
 The legislation will freeze scheduled cuts to doctors’ Medicare payments for one year, paying for them with spending cuts in other healthcare spending. This avoids a 27 percent cut in reimbursements to doctors treating Medicare patients. 
 
 White House officials argue the agreement leaves substantial opportunity to further reduce tax breaks for high-income households, reform corporate tax rates and reform entitlement programs in the 113th Congress. 
 
 It will also include a one-year extension of the 2008 farm bill without dairy reforms, to the chagrin of Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow Deborah (Debbie) Ann StabenowSenate passes mammoth farm bill Moderates need to hold firm against radical right on Farm Bill New Kid Rock film explores political divide MORE (D-Mich.). 
 
 "This is Mitch McConnell's farm bill" she said. "I will vote for it but I am on record that I am not happy with what was done to agriculture." 
 
 The farm bill provision stops a possible doubling of milk prices but does not contain reforms and $24 billion in deficit reduction in a Senate passed five-year bill. 
 
 
 
 
 
 —Erik Wasson, Vicki Needham and Mike Lillis contributed. 
 
 This report was originally published at 2:08 a.m. and last updated at 10:27 a.m.
– It passed in the wee hours, and by a wee margin: The Senate passed the biggest tax overhaul in more than 30 years Saturday morning 51-49. Tennessee's Sen. Bob Corker was the only Republican to side against the bill. With the House having passed its bill in November, Congress is just a few steps away from getting something on President Trump's desk. He tweeted in part, "Look forward to signing a final bill before Christmas!" Politico reports the final hours before the vote were filled with "horse trading" and some ridicule from Democrats: Minority Whip Dick Durbin tweeted a photo showing a page of the bill with semi-legible handwriting scrawled in the margin, saying, "Trying to review the #GOPTaxScam but they are making hand-written changes to brand new text as we speak – can anyone else read this?" Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer swung at Republicans for releasing a revamped 479-page bill that senators didn't have time to review. GOP Sen. Ron Johnson's take, per the AP: "You really don't read this kind of legislation." Among the numerous last-minute amendments that were debated: A controversial provision by GOP Sen. Pat Toomey that would have given Michigan's conservative Hillsdale College a pass on a new tax on university endowments was axed. Politico reports the House will on Monday formally assemble the conference committee that will work to get the House and Senate measures to jibe; the Senate hasn't commented on a formal conference yet. The Wall Street Journal offers a chart that illustrates key differences between the two bills.