Sen. Orrin Hatch on Monday came to the defense of a fellow Republican, saying in a letter that he's "disgusted" by false reports that Sen. Bob Corker pushed for 11th-hour changes to the tax legislation for self-enrichment.
In a letter to Corker, R-Tenn., published by the Washington Examiner, Hatch defended Corker against assertions that he hijacked the bill at the last minute in exchange for language that would aid real estate developers.
"I am disgusted by press reports … (that) asserted that a new provision was crafted for real estate developers and was 'air-dropped' into the conference agreement," Hatch wrote. "Second, reports have implied that you had some role in advocating for or negotiating the inclusion of this provision. Both assertions are categorically false."
Corker, a deficit hawk, was the lone Republican dissenting vote on the Senate's tax bill over concerns that it would add nearly $1.5 trillion to the deficit over 10 years.
Corker said he would vote for the bill coming out of conference, saying he's willing to "bet on our country's enterprising spirit" that the tax cuts would stimulate the economy enough to pay for itself.
However, the International Business Times (IBT) over the weekend reported that Corker switched only after language was inserted to reduce taxes on income from real estate LLCs; Corker reported $7 million in such income last year.
Hatch pointed out that the language was part of the House legislation.
"It takes a great deal of imagination – and likely no small amount of partisanship – to argue that a provision that has been public for over a month, debated on the floor of the House of Representatives, included in a House-passed bill, and identified by [the Joint Committee on Taxation] as an issue requiring a compromise between conferees is somehow a covert and last-minute addition to the conference report," Hatch wrote to Corker.
Hatch's letter was in response to one Corker wrote Sunday, asking the Senate Finance Committee chair how the provision ended up in the final version.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.