Democratic senators complained about the Republicans’ tax bill on Friday ― which came to them late in the day with handwritten notes on the pages.
Senators debated the Republican tax bill all day Friday, CNN reported, but by evening ― just hours ahead of the potential vote ― Republicans still hadn’t released a final version.
When Democratic senators saw a draft late in the day, some began sharing images of the legislation, which had handwritten notes and additions down the margins.
“Trying to review the #GOPTaxScam but they are making hand-written changes to brand new text as we speak,” Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) tweeted on Friday. “Can anyone else read this?”
After months of negotiations, Republicans appeared prepared to pass the bill Friday ― the most sweeping rewrite of the U.S. tax code in three decades ― but then changed it throughout the day.
“Nobody knows what’s in it,” Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) told CNN on Friday. “They should be ashamed of themselves that they are willing to pass a bill that is this big with nobody really knowing what’s in it.”
While it’s apparently not unusual for bills debated in the Senate to have some handwritten changes, Democrats told Bloomberg News that this instance was extreme.
This article has been updated with additional reactions from senators.