GOP looks to extend tax breaks during lame duck

Republican leaders hope that they can extend dozens of expiring tax provisions worth into the hundreds of billions of dollars even before they take control of the Senate in January, clearing the way for other work and gaining an early victory on tax policy.

Soon-to-be Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell listed passing the provisions, known as “extenders,” just behind a government funding bill as a priority for when the Senate reconvenes for the first time since the midterm elections this week.

“We’ll be talking about whether to do the tax extender package,” McConnell said in a press conference in Louisville, Ky., following his re-election last week.

“[T]here’s a whole lot of unfinished business sitting there, some of which it might be advantageous to get out of the way,” McConnell said. “The Democrats may want to do it and we may want to do it in order to clear off some of the necessary work that’s simply been undone in the dysfunctional Senate.”

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