Today on the Hill: Budget Vote-A-Rama in Senate Today; Tiberi to Step Down Jan. 31

The Senate is prepping for a vote-a-rama today on proposed amendments to the 2018 budget resolution (H. Con. Res. 71) that includes reconciliation instructions to facilitate a tax reform package. The process may keep the Senate in session late into the night, with a final up-or-down vote on the underlying resolution expected before the upper chamber breaks for the week. The Republican Study Committee has compiled a helpful tracker for all of the amendments submitted by both parties, although only a handful are likely to be adopted. Passage of the budget will send it to conference with the House, which is likely to progress quickly in order to keep to the Republicans’ goal of advancing tax reform legislation to the president’s desk by the end of the calendar year.

On the House side, The New York Times reported last night that Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-OH) intends to resign from his seat in Congress and return to the private sector in his home state of Ohio. A member of the House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Tiberi is considered one of the panel’s tax experts and was a close ally of former House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH). The Congressman formally announced his decision in a press release this morning, setting his final day in the chamber as Jan. 31, 2018. The date theoretically leaves enough time for Tiberi to see the Republican tax reform package through the legislative process, but the timing could become significant if tax reform faces delays or obstacles that would push it later into 2018.