Six Republicans on the Senate Armed Services Committee have signaled they would consider using revenue from closing tax loopholes to avert pending cuts to the military.

Sen. John McCain John Sidney McCainCindy McCain joins board of Biden's presidential transition team Meet the first woman to run for president Jill Biden shuts down Jake Tapper's question about husband's 'occasional gaffe' MORE (Ariz.), the senior Republican on the Armed Services panel, and Sen. Lindsey Graham Lindsey Olin GrahamSupreme Court fight should drive Democrats and help Biden Graham to meet with Trump's Supreme Court pick on Tuesday Democratic super PAC launches .5M ad campaign against Graham MORE (R-S.C.) are discussing a deal to raise between $40 billion and $50 billion in new revenues.

Four other Republican members of the Armed Services Committee say they would consider supporting such a deal, even though it would likely violate the Taxpayer Protection Pledge championed by anti-tax activist Grover Norquist.

McCain and Graham are eyeing tax loopholes and fees identified by Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) during the negotiations of the so-called supercommittee and other deficit-reduction talks last year.

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“If Republicans would put some revenue on the table — it’s $110 billion we have to offset in 2013,” Graham said Tuesday. “So McCain and I are trying to find some revenue from the Toomey-supercommittee-Gang of Six-Biden-Kyl talks where we could put revenue [on the table] by closing deductions or selling property, increasing fees.”

Graham proposed a 3-to-1 ratio of spending cuts to revenue-raising provisions, similar to the Simpson-Bowles deficit-reduction plan.

The Pentagon is facing $55 billion in cuts, but any proposal to avoid them would need to erase a similar amount in cuts planned for non-defense programs to win Democratic support.

Graham said if Republicans agree to raise $40 billion or $50 billion in new revenues, “it’s going to be easier to get Democrats’ help with the $60 billion or $70 billion that we’ll have to find throughout the other parts of the government.”

Sens. Kelly Ayotte Kelly Ann AyotteBottom line Bottom line Bottom Line MORE (R-N.H.), Susan Collins Susan Margaret CollinsTrump's Teflon problem: Nothing sticks, including the 'wins' Durbin: Democrats can 'slow' Supreme Court confirmation 'perhaps a matter of hours, maybe days at most' Senate GOP set to vote on Trump's Supreme Court pick before election MORE (R-Maine), Rob Portman Robert (Rob) Jones PortmanMcConnell locks down key GOP votes in Supreme Court fight Romney undecided on authorizing subpoenas for GOP Obama-era probes Congress needs to prioritize government digital service delivery MORE (R-Ohio) and Roger Wicker Roger Frederick WickerThe Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by Facebook - Republicans lawmakers rebuke Trump on election Hillicon Valley: Subpoenas for Facebook, Google and Twitter on the cards | Wray rebuffs mail-in voting conspiracies | Reps. raise mass surveillance concerns Key Democrat opposes GOP Section 230 subpoena for Facebook, Twitter, Google MORE (R-Miss.), all members of the Armed Services Committee, said they would consider such a compromise.

“I would support looking at some of the revenue sources that were looked at on the supercommittee. I think the overwhelming majority should be spending reductions, but that’s certainly something I would be willing to consider, depending on what the loopholes were and what the revenue sources were,” Ayotte said.

Ayotte said she would oppose any proposal that raised tax rates.

Said Collins, “Whether or not I could support it would depend very much on the specifics, but I am very eager to avoid sequestration, which I think would be an absolute disaster for our economy as well as for our national defense and for many of the smaller discretionary domestic programs that would be hit hard.”

Portman, a leading candidate to join Mitt Romney on the GOP presidential ticket, said, “We’re willing to look at anything, we’re concerned enough about it.”

Portman, a member of the 2011 supercommittee, said Republicans in those negotiations were looking more closely at measures classified by the Congressional Budget Office as fees.

“There are a number of items that CBO terms revenues, which are fees, that were part of the discussion,” he said. “But those wouldn’t be as much [tax] loopholes as fees.”

When asked whether he could support ending some niche tax breaks to avert the sequestration, Wicker said, “I wouldn’t rule it out.”

Other Republicans on the Armed Services Committee have taken a different stance.

Sen. John Cornyn John CornynTrump, GOP aim to complete reshaping of federal judiciary Fears grow of chaotic election Supreme Court fight pushes Senate toward brink MORE (R-Texas) said special tax breaks should be reviewed as part of broader tax reform, a position shared by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) and Norquist.

“This is totally unnecessary to solve the sequester problem at least for a year, to start raising taxes on anybody,” Cornyn said.

Sen. Jeff Sessions Jefferson (Jeff) Beauregard SessionsRoy Moore sues Alabama over COVID-19 restrictions GOP set to release controversial Biden report Trump's policies on refugees are as simple as ABCs MORE (Ala.), the third-ranking Republican on Armed Services, said closing tax loopholes is tantamount to raising taxes.

“I don’t think we need to be raising taxes for more spending,” he said. “I don’t think we have to raise taxes, period, to get this country under financial control.

“I’m not supportive of this. I don’t think the Democrats have that much leverage to say they’re prepared to cut all this out of defense but Medicaid, food stamps, a lot of other programs have no cuts at all,” he said.

Sen. Saxby Chambliss Clarence (Saxby) Saxby ChamblissLobbying world GOP lobbyist tapped for White House legislative affairs The Hill's Morning Report - Gillibrand drops out as number of debaters shrinks MORE (R-Ga.) said lawmakers should eliminate special tax breaks through comprehensive reform, not one at a time.

When asked about McCain’s efforts to strike a deal on defense cuts, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellTrump, GOP aim to complete reshaping of federal judiciary Supreme Court fight should drive Democrats and help Biden Harris on SCOTUS fight: Ginsburg's legacy 'at stake' MORE (Ky.) deferred to his second-in-command, Senate Republican Whip Jon Kyl (Ariz.).

“The House of Representatives passed legislation, raised over $300-and-some billion to demonstrate it can be done without raising taxes,” he said. “Clearly, we believe that the best way to avoid the sequestration is to do so with reductions in spending, not raising taxes.”

Kyl noted that he and McCain have also introduced legislation that would use spending cuts to offset the cost of wiping out the defense sequestration.