GOP Sen. Bob Corker (Tenn.), a holdout on his party's tax reform plan, flipped to a "yes" vote Friday, essentially sealing sufficient support for the bill to pass. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), another hesitant vote, confirmed his "yes" earlier Friday.
"This bill is far from perfect, and left to my own accord, we would have reached a bipartisan consensus on legislation that avoided any chance of adding to the deficit," Corker wrote, but nevertheless "I believe that this [is a] once-in-a-generation opportunity to make U.S. businesses domestically more productive and internationally more competitive."
Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) have had health problems that have kept them from voting in recent days. The GOP can only afford to lose two votes in the Senate for the tax legislation to pass. Read Corker's full statement below. Jeva Lange