Republicans Pass Tax Plan in Senate Budget Committee

Republicans are rapidly pushing forward with their efforts to pass President Trump’s tax plan, which would overhaul the code in order to shower billions of dollars in tax cuts upon the richest Americans, including President Trump’s own family. On Tuesday, the Senate Budget Committee passed the Senate version of the plan, with all Republicans on the panel voting for it and all Democrats voting against. Protesters disrupted the committee hearing Tuesday with chants of “Kill the bill, don’t kill us.” Several were arrested. The plan will now go to the full Senate for a vote as early as Thursday.

The Senate bill slashes the corporate tax rate and gives further tax cuts to wealthy business owners. It would also repeal a key provision of the Affordable Care Act: the requirement that most Americans have health insurance. Experts say recalling this provision, known as the individual mandate, would cause the cost of health insurance to skyrocket. A House version of the bill would also reclassify tuition waivers for graduate students as taxable income, meaning graduate students could be saddled with massive tax bills.

Graduate students at dozens of universities across the country are planning walkouts today to protest the measure, which they say would make higher education even more unaffordable.