Rep. Black Blocks Freedom Caucus Attempt to Stop Border Tax

The chairperson of the House Budget Committee blocked an effort Wednesday night that would have stopped Republicans from pursuing a border adjustment tax.

Politico reports that Diane Black, R-Tenn., successfully argued down an amendment proposal to the budget plan the committee spent 12 hours marking up.

Near the end of the session, House Freedom Caucus member Rep. Mark Sanford, R-S.C., tried to throw in a poison-pill amendment that would have appeased the ultra-conservative Freedom Caucus and other groups.

Black, however, said during an exchange that lasted six minutes the attempt violated rules that had been set by both parties earlier in the markup process.

The budget proposal was approved in the bipartisan committee by a 22-14 vote. All Republicans, including those in the Freedom Caucus, voted yes on it.

The border adjustment tax would place a tax on goods imported from other countries, as explained by the Tax Foundation think tank earlier this year.

"I'm not saying there's a guarantee of a BAT going forward, but increasingly, what I've seen over the last couple of days, puts it in that direction," Sanford said, according to Politico. "That puts myself and others on this committee in a bad spot."

Freedom Caucus chairman Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., said last month the border adjustment tax is a "stumbling block" as the GOP tries to pass its budget.

"There's really one stumbling block that a lot of us are divided on: the border adjustment tax, and where you go with that," said Meadows, CNBC reported.

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