Schumer tees up vote on bill to expand child tax credit

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is teeing up a vote on the House’s bill to expand the child tax credit (CTC) later this week, potentially putting a cap on the Senate’s work before the monthlong August recess.

A Schumer spokesperson announced that a procedural vote will take place on the $79 billion package later in the week. 

“The Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act is good for kids, good for affordable housing, good for small businesses, and good for American families. This bipartisan bill passed the House overwhelmingly and we hope the Senate Republicans will join us," Schumer said in a statement.

The vote is expected to fail despite the widespread bipartisan vote in the House back in January. The lower chamber advanced it 357-70.

The expansion of the child tax credit includes an incremental uptick of the $1,600 refundable cap and an adjustment for inflation. 

The proposal would also reinstate a number of tax breaks for businesses that were included in the GOP’s 2017 tax law, including research and experimental expensing and small-business expensing.

The package was crafted by Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.). But it has consistently faced opposition from a horde of Senate GOP members. 

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a top ally of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), told reporters that he expects Republicans to largely stick together to block the bill. He also criticized Schumer for not making a concerted push to pass the legislative item.

“Makes me wonder how sincere of an effort could this be if … we're going to run out of time to give a bill adequate consideration,” Cornyn said. “I don’t expect it to go anywhere.”

Senate Republicans have been calling for changes to the bill through an open amendment process. They also took issue with the bill’s uncoupling of the work requirement from the CTC.

“We need a process that allows for some amendments to try to tweak and fix some of the issues,” Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) said in February shortly after it passed the House. 

Among those on the right who have also taken issue with the package are lawmakers from New York who are upset it did not include an increase in the state and local tax deduction.

The vote would also come as lawmakers prepare to bolt town for more than a month as part of the annual August recess.

For much of the summer, ever since the chamber’s completed work on the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization, Schumer has used the floor to hold “show votes” on political issues that were never going to pass.

Those were largely on reproductive rights issues, an issue that Democrats have tried to bludgeon Republicans with ahead of November.