Large Wall Street firms have scored a key victory on Capitol Hill with the removal of a major tax from the financial reform bill. On Tuesday, Democrats stripped the $17.9 billion fee on large financial institutions as part of efforts to win the support of Republican Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts. Democrats are scrambling to win Brown’s support following the death of Democratic Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia. Byrd’s death has left Democrats one vote short of the sixty needed to overcome a Republican filibuster.