‘This Is So Bad’: Sen. McCaskill Sounds Alarm On Lobbyists Stuffing Tax Bill With Amendments

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) said Friday that Democrats had received a list of amendments to the Senate GOP tax reform bill from D.C. lobbyists instead of their Republican colleagues.

“This is so bad. We have just gotten list of amendments to be included in bill NOT from our R colleagues, but from lobbyists downtown,” McCaskill tweeted ahead of Friday’s likely vote.

This is so bad. We have just gotten list of amendments to be included in bill NOT from our R colleagues, but from lobbyists downtown. None of us have seen this list, but lobbyists have it. Need I say more? Disgusting. And we probably will not even be given time to read them. pic.twitter.com/Mn0i56JeZg

— Claire McCaskill (@clairecmc) December 1, 2017

McCaskill and other Senate Democrats have repeatedly criticized Republicans for rushing the process and writing their legislation behind closed doors.

McCaskill’s comments come after reports that over 6,243 lobbyists, more than half of all registered lobbyists in Washington, D.C., worked to help craft the GOP tax reform bill, according to an analysis from Public Citizen and data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP).

The Hill added:

The Senate is expected to hold a final vote on the legislation late Friday. A number of changes are likely to be made to the bill before final passage, however. Republicans are expected to offer a “manager’s” amendment that would reflect those changes.

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Friday that Democrats have already had plenty of time to review the bill during the four days of committee hearings, and that they would be sufficiently familiar with most of the final version’s provisions when it went to a vote.

Senate GOP leaders said Friday that they had the votes to advance toward their first major legislative victory.