Senate voting on bill aimed at expanding child tax credit

(WASHINGTON) — A bill aimed at expanding the child tax credit for millions of families and implementing business tax breaks is expected to fail to progress through the Senate during a key test vote scheduled for Thursday afternoon.

In remarks before the vote, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who is leading the charge in forcing a vote on this doomed-to-fail legislation Thursday, dared Republicans to challenge the popular provisions geared at putting more money in the pockets of low- and middle-income families.

“The Senate has a chance to move forward on the tax relief for American Families and Workers Act. Democrats are ready to vote yes, to advance bipartisan legislation today. The question is will Senate Republicans join us to give Americans a tax break? Or will they stand in the way the tax bill that passed the House with an overwhelming vote…?” Schumer said.

The legislation would need 60 votes to progress through the chamber during the procedural vote. Though the bill is bipartisan and passed the House overwhelmingly 357-70, it is expected to fail to advance in the Senate on Thursday largely at the hands of Republicans, who oppose its funding mechanism and who allege that Democrats have brought it up for consideration for purely political purposes.

“Today as the Senate prepares to leave town for the August state work period, the Democratic leader has decided to squeeze out one more vote that isn’t ready for primetime,” Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said on the Senate floor before the vote. “Today’s vote doesn’t seem to be intended to produce a legislative outcome.”

Schumer largely conceded that the vote is about putting Republicans on the record. It’s a move Democrats have utilized a number of times in the last few months, forcing Republicans to take votes on a number of provisions on things such as immigration and abortion leading up to the November election.

“This should be bipartisan. It passed in a bipartisan vote in the House, and I hope Republicans here in the Senate will join us,” Schumer said. “But I have also always been clear that Democrats will not shy away from moving forward on important issues when necessary to give the American people a chance to see where their elected representatives stand.”

Thursday’s vote comes as vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance has been facing intense scrutiny for comments he has made about people without children in America, and after Vance suggested during a Sunday interview with Fox News that presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris opposed the child tax credit.

“I think a lot of parents and a lot of non-parents look at our public policy over the last four years and ask, ‘How did we get to this place? How did we get to a place where Kamala Harris is calling for an end to the child tax credit?” Vance said on Fox.

Schumer called the assertion that Democrats oppose the credit “plain old nonsense” when announcing that the Senate would vote on the House-backed bill this week.

Vance will likely not be in attendance for the vote. He is visiting the southern border in Arizona.

Republicans have a number of reasons for rejecting this proposal.

Many say they oppose the way the bill is funded. But rejecting this bill will also allow debate about tax policy to continue into 2025, when Republicans hope they may have regained control of the Senate or the White House.

“It needs to go back in the oven and come out with our tax reform next year,” Sen. Thom Tillis said.

ABC News’ Lauren Peller contributed to this report.