The Latest: Rubio demands bigger child tax credit in bill
By Associated Press
Dec 14, 2017 1:24 PM CST
Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, a member of the tax-writing Senate Finance Committee, confers with an aide as tax bill conferees gather to work on the sweeping GOP plan, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2017. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)   (Associated Press)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the Republican tax overhaul(all times local):

2:25 p.m.

Republican Sen. Marco Rubio says he's a "no" vote on the sweeping tax package — unless the child tax credit is more generous to low-income families.

The bill would expand the child tax credit to $2,000 from $1,000. The Florida lawmaker wants a further expansion, and his opposition undercuts Republican leaders trying to muscle the tax bill through the Senate next week.

In a conversation with reporters, Rubio did not specify how high he wants the credit to go.

House and Senate leaders have agreed on the bill in principle but are still finalizing the legislation that they plan to unveil Friday.

A spokesman says Republican Mike Lee is another senator who is undecided on the bill.

___

12:25 p.m.

The sweeping tax overhaul in Congress just got a boost from a key faction of the party. Conservative members of the House Freedom Caucus say they support the package, which is speeding toward votes next week.

Ohio congressman Jim Jordan is a member of the caucus. Jordan says, "I think it's going to pass. I think you're going to see the vast majority of the Freedom Caucus people vote for it."

Caucus leader Mark Meadows of North Carolina says he doesn't see "any alarm bells" in the emerging package.

The Freedom Caucus is a key constituency for House GOP leaders because it has more than 30 members, and a united caucus could kill any bill that lacks Democratic support. Congressional Democrats were shut out from crafting the tax package and have been united against it.

___

3:43 a.m.

Generous tax cuts for corporations and the wealthiest Americans would be delivered in a sweeping overhaul of the tax laws, under a new agreement crafted by Republicans in Congress.

Middle- and low-income families would receive smaller tax cuts, though President Donald Trump and Republican leaders have billed the package as a huge benefit for the middle class. The agreement reached Wednesday by House and Senate GOP leaders also calls for scrapping a major tax requirement of the "Obamacare" health law, a step toward the ultimate GOP goal of unraveling the law.

The agreement combines key elements of separate tax bills recently passed by the House and Senate, striking compromises on some of them. The Republicans are pushing to deliver final legislation to Trump before Christmas as the first major legislative accomplishment of his presidency.