Economics/Trade

The passage of the bill, sponsored by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), capped a day of scrambling.

The Senate advanced a bill to allow states to collect online sales tax and will vote on it May 6.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) announced Thursday that he would force senators to vote at 1 a.m. Friday in order to complete work on the online sales tax bill this week.

“This leaves me with no alternative but to look at the next alternative to move things on the bill,” Reid said on the Senate floor Thursday. “After midnight tonight … we will have a vote on cloture to the bill. … After that, of course, it’s only a majority vote to complete this legislation.”

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) accused Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) of trying to add “sugar to a very bitter cup of coffee” by adding some amendments to the online sales tax bill.

“He’s trying to add some sugar into a very bitter cup of coffee, that is his legislation,” Wyden said on the Senate floor Thursday after objecting to an agreement to vote on three amendments. “I just don’t think that makes a lot of sense.”

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) tried to offer an amendment to the online sales tax bill that would have directed the IRS to conduct a report on athletes abusing tax exemptions by running a charity.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) objected to Coburn’s amendment Thursday, saying he was afraid it would add a “blue slip” to the Marketplace Fairness Act, which would allow the House to reject the bill.

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) read a letter from an anonymous whistle blower Thursday, that said the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is pressuring union employees to all take the same furlough day off so that air travel shuts down.

“Management at FAA is trying to make union employees all take the same day off … so that the sequester can hurt,” Coburn said on the Senate floor. “How cynical, how un-American is that?”

Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) objected to an amendment to the online sales tax bill from Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) on Thursday.

Baucus, who serves as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said it was a "travesty" that the Marketplace Fairness Act was not going through his committee before coming to the Senate floor.

"This is a travesty, the way this bill is being considered," Baucus said.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) chided senators holding up a bill that would allow states to collect online sales tax.

“The United States Senate operates by cooperation and consent, so I was disappointed that we weren’t able to reach agreement on amendments yesterday,” Reid said on the Senate floor Thursday. “The only way we get things done around here is when senators work together. We cannot let a few people stand in the way of fairness and that’s what this is all about.”

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said he would introduce a bill this week that would make the child tax credit permanent and keep current levels on the earned income tax credit.

“We understand that comprehensive tax reform can put American on equal footing,” Brown said Wednesday. “What tax reform should not do is compromise the earned income tax credit and child tax credit."

Republican and Democratic senators objected to each other's proposals on how to stop sequestration on Wednesday.

Sens. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and James Inhofe (R-Okla.) tried to pass their bill to give President Obama flexibility in making sequester cuts.