McCain May Use Leverage To BLOCK Trump’s Tax Bill Out Of Revenge

• A senior administration official told me: “We’re still getting it done in a matter of a couple months, instead of a couple of years. It’s OK if it takes a few extra days.”
• The bill is in the ugly sausage-making phase, with senators taking advantage of their leverage to make demands. At least six GOP senators are holding out (John McCain and Jeff Flake of Arizona, Bob Corker of Tennessee, Susan Collins of Maine, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Steve Daines of Montana).
• Lose three of those, and the bill is dead.
• McCain says he’s undecided. His concerns? “A lot of things.”
• Will be drama to the end: The well-wired Chris Krueger of Cowen has “~8 Republican Senators on fence/lean-no … Any slippage, and momentum goes other direction with Alabama Senate election [Dec. 12], and shutdown negotiations next week.”

The state o’ play, from more than half a dozen senior Republicans interviewed by Swan:

• “High concern” about Corker of Tennessee and Johnson of Wisconsin: They’re simply not on board yet, and they both have a vote in the Budget Committee — a vital procedural step scheduled for 2:30 p.m. today.
• If Johnson votes against this, there’s no hiding! Everyone will pile up on him. And there’s no telling what Trump will do.
• A problem for McConnell & Co: Johnson and Corker sit on opposite ends of a Catch 22 seesaw: Johnson wants lots more money for “pass-through” businesses. But every extra dollar you give him is another dollar that will blow out the deficit and worry deficit hawks like Corker, Flake, and McCain.
• A senior GOP aide: “It’s unclear what exactly that Senator Johnson wants. … It’s potentially hundreds of billions of dollars.”