After being accused in a letter earlier this week sent by the leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee of failing to turn over emails from September 2016 pertaining to a range of topics including Wikileaks, it appears Kushner is being punished for his obstinance with a series of embarrassing leaks presumably from the same committee that publicly chastised him only days before (bonus points for subtlety).
To much fanfare, mostly out of president Trump, on Thursday the House passed their version of the tax bill 227-205 along party lines, with 13 Republicans opposing. The passage of the House bill was met with muted market reaction. The Senate version of the tax reform is currently going through the Senate Finance Committee for additional amendments and should be ready for a full floor debate in a few weeks.
After five consecutive daily losses on the MSCI world stock index and seven straight falls in Europe, there was finally a bounce, as investors returned to global equity markets in an optimistic mood on Thursday, sending US futures higher after several days of losses as global stocks rebounded following a Chinese commodity-driven rout.
In what is emerging as the latest potential stumbling block for the passage of GOP tax reform, on Tuesday afternoon Senate Majority leader announced that the Senate tax bill will include language to repeal ObamaCare’s individual mandate, a move which could make passage prolematic as it could withdraw support from moderate Republicans. According to The Hill, Conservatives led by GOP Sens. Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and Tom Cotton pushed hard to include the provision, which would eliminate the federal penalty on people who do not buy health insurance.
Much like the Obamacare repeal and replace effort earlier this year, the past couple of weeks have been an invariable roller coaster ride for GOP representatives as Congressional leaders have tried to form some level of consensus within a fractured party with competing interests. This week will undoubtedly be no different.