How Trump Got Tax Reform Through Congress

Voting on the final Republican tax bill begins Tuesday, and a pledge Monday afternoon from Maine senator Susan Collins that she would support it all but sealed the deal—she’s the 50th vote in the Senate, and Vice President Mike Pence, if needed, can provide vote number 51.

After nearly a year in office, Donald Trump appears to have his first major legislative victory in sight. How did he do it? Mostly by staying out of the way. Trump was publicly angry with Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell in August, after the Kentucky Republican gently criticized the president’s “excessive expectations” for Obamacare repeal. McConnell also blasted the White House’s “artificial deadlines” that interfered with Hill leadership’s efforts to forge consensus. But Trump’s anger subsided and he seems to have received the message.

The result was that while Trump himself engaged in public efforts to sell the broad goals of Republican tax cuts and woo red-state Democratic senators to support it (unsuccessfully, it turns out), his White House team quietly negotiated and consulted with the House and Senate tax writers and leadership. Trump’s role was to cheerlead by encouraging party unity. His forays into the debate were mostly counterproductive. The tax cut effort was better off when he simply assured the country “there will be no veto” to whatever Congress sent him.

The tax bill could still fail, even though Republicans in Washington are as optimistic as ever. Of course, passing taxes before Christmas doesn’t mean Congress and the president are done for the year—there’s still a government shutdown to avoid.

One More Thing—President Trump’s daughter and senior adviser Ivanka Trump appeared on Fox & Friends Monday morning for a last-minute promotion of the tax package.