Paul Ryan (Credit: AP/Susan Walsh) Despite having passed a controversial and widely despised tax bill through the Senate, congressional Republicans still face numerous difficulties before anything reaches President Donald Trump’s desk. Significant differences remain between the two bills passed by the Senate and the House. With the GOP holding a minimal 52-vote majority in the Senate, the odds are high that whatever final bill emerges from the conference committee of members from both chambers will lean toward the Senate’s version. Further complicating matters for House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is that the stopgap funding law that currently funds the federal government expires on Friday at midnight.