Ted Cruz speaks as Sen. David Perdue and Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin listen during a news conference on tax reform (Credit: Getty/Alex Wong) The moderates will not save us; a tax deal is all but done. Even before Republicans began Wednesday’s first and only public meeting of the conference committee working to blend two different tax plans passed by the House and the Senate, GOP leaders had already announced that they had struck a deal on the tax bill, keeping them on pace for a final vote before the end of next week.