Here are the major dilemmas facing the GOP as it writes tax overhaul

Republican leaders face a series of difficult decisions in writing their major fiscal overhaul this year, each of which threatens to alienate one faction of the party or another.

Yet House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) can’t afford to lose more than a few votes in either chamber, as they look to extend the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act through budget reconciliation, a legislative process that allows bills to bypass the filibuster and pass with only a simple majority in the Senate. They also want to add new tax cuts proposed by President Donald Trump to the mix.

Republicans will be torn between fulfilling their tax cut dreams on the one hand and preserving spending programs popular with constituents on the

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