Democrats ask Republicans to hold off on tax vote until Jones is seated in the Senate

With a win under their belt, Democratic leaders on Wednesday called on Republicans to slow down their attempt to push through their tax bill and wait to hold the vote until Doug Jones, the newly elected senator from Alabama, is seated.

Republicans say they have reached a deal on a $1.5 trillion tax plan, which lowers the corporate tax rate to 21 percent and the top individual tax rate from 39.6 percent to 37 percent. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) warned Republicans that if a bill that heavily favors the wealthiest Americans goes through, "there will be many more Alabamas in 2018. Many more. The suburbs are swinging back to us."

Republicans, who want the House and Senate to vote on a bill by the end of next week, said they are not slowing down. "We are moving ahead as we always have been on the same timeline we've been talking about for months," said Antonia Ferrier, spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). It's not clear when Jones will arrive in Washington; Alabama's secretary of state said the soonest the election will be certified is Dec. 26 or 27, and if the Senate goes on break as scheduled on Dec. 22, they're not expected back until Jan. 3. Once Jones is officially seated, he will cut the GOP majority down to one vote, from two.

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