Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine says she would consider removing her support from GOP tax plans, saying in an interview she could change her vote if her proposed amendments don’t make it in the final version.
“I would (consider changing my vote),” she told CNN affiliate CBS WABI5 on Thursday. “I’m going to look at what comes out of the conference committee meeting to reconcile the differences between the Senate and House bill. So I won’t make a final decision until I see what that package is.”
Collins has made similar claims since the bill passed the Senate last week.
One of the amendments she added would allow a deduction for property taxes, another would allow a provision protecting retirement benefits for employees of charities and local governments, and another would be a medical expense deduction.
Collins, a moderate Republican, voted for the GOP’s tax plan last week despite having helped kill the GOP’s Obamacare repeal efforts earlier this year. Several aides told CNN that Collins made clear to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell that she wanted to get to “yes” on the tax legislation, unlike with health care.
“There’s a real fear that the tax bill is going to trigger a 4% cut in Medicare,” she told CBS WABI5 in the interview. “I am absolutely certain that 4% cut in Medicare that I mentioned will not occur. I have it in writing from both the speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, and also Senator Mitch McConnell.”
This story has been updated.
