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A Huge Day for Health Care: McCain's Return Sets Stage for Big Vote

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WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump is increasing pressure on Republican senators as they prepare to take up health care again.

On Monday, Trump stood with families he called "victims of Obamacare" who are suffering through high premiums and broken promises.

"Any senator who votes against starting debate is telling America that you are fine with the Obamacare nightmare, which is what it is," said President Trump.

But even Republican senators weren't clear going into Tuesday if they will vote to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act or just repeal it for now and try to come up with a replacement plan later.

Providing a burst of optimism for his GOP colleagues, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., recently diagnosed with brain cancer, announced he'll return to Capitol Hill for roll call.

Full Steam Ahead on Tax Reform

Regardless of the outcome of Tuesday's vote, the White House plans to move ahead with the rest of the president's economic agenda.

It's been more than 30 years since Congress passed a major tax reform law. CBN's Ben Kennedy asked Horizon Investment's Greg Valliere what tax reform will look like.

"Two big components one would be significant business tax cuts going from 35 percent top rate to maybe low 20s. The president wants 15 and I don't think he's going to get that," said Valliere.

The other major component: It appears the White House has a plan aiming to focus on tax cuts for millions of individual Americans.

"We'll see rates come down a bit, we'll see a change in the way people deduct, we might see the estate tax end and we'll probably see the death of the alternative minimum tax," said Valliere.

The administration is reportedly very organized in its push to pass a tax bill and will start pitching tax reform in mid-August in hopes of it taking shape in the fall and signing it into law early next year.



 

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About The Author

Ben
Kennedy

Ben Kennedy is an Emmy Award-winning White House correspondent for CBN News in Washington, D.C. He has more than a decade of reporting experience covering breaking news nationwide. He's traveled cross country covering the President and scored exclusive interviews with lawmakers and White House officials. Kennedy spent seven years reporting for WPLG, the ABC affiliate in Miami, Florida. While there he reported live from Kingston, Jamaica, as Hurricane Matthew hit the island. He was the first journalist to interview Diana Nyad moments after her historic swim from Cuba to Key West. He reported