10 things you need to know today: December 19, 2017

GOP tax overhaul heads to a vote, three die after speeding Amtrak train derails in Washington state, and more

An Amtrak derailed in DuPont, Washington
(Image credit: Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)

1. GOP makes final push to pass tax overhaul

Republicans launch the final push to pass their tax overhaul on Tuesday with a vote in the House. The Senate is expected to follow by late Tuesday or Wednesday, with both votes expected to be along party lines. With a narrow 52-48 GOP majority in the Senate, the plan, which includes big tax cuts for corporations and the wealthiest Americans, appeared to be headed for trouble, but last-minute negotiations won over holdouts, including Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), and Mike Lee (R-Utah). The legislation is the biggest reworking of the federal tax code in three decades. It permanently cuts the tax rate for corporations from 35 percent to 21 percent and reduces the top rate for the wealthy, with more modest reductions for others. The legislation adds $1.46 trillion to deficits over a decade.

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.