Rubio threat on child tax credit puts bump in GOP tax path

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, center, embraces Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, left, as House and Senate conferees after GOP leaders announced they have forged an agreement on a sweeping overhaul of the nation's tax laws, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2017. Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., ranking member of the House Ways and Means Committee, looks on at far right. Democrats objected to the bill and asked that a final vote be delayed until Senator-elect Doug Jones of Alabama is seated.J. Scott Applewhite / AP

WASHINGTON — Republican Marco Rubio’s potential defection over a tax credit for low-income parents has put a speed bump into GOP leaders’ drive to push their big tax package through the Senate, but it’s a complication that’s likely to be resolved.

The Florida senator says he’ll vote against the $1.5 trillion bill unless House and Senate negotiators expand the tax credit that low-income Americans can claim for their children.

That puts the Republicans’ razor-thin margin in the Senate closer to the edge. The GOP leaders are straining to muscle the bill through Congress next week, handing President Donald Trump his first major legislative victory by Christmas.

The Senate turmoil erupted the same day that a key faction of House Republicans came out in favour of the bill, boosting its chances.