House Republicans push final vote on Trump’s tax bill, challenge critics
Since launching early this year, Republicans have struggled mightily with the bill nearly every step of the way, often succeeding by only a single vote.
PTI
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President Donald Trump
Washington, 2 July
Republican leaders in the House are sprinting toward a Wednesday
vote on President Donald Trump's tax and spending cuts package, determined to
seize momentum from a hard-fought vote in the Senate while essentially daring
members to defy their party's leader and vote against it.
“The American people gave us a clear mandate, and after four years
of Democrat failure, we intend to deliver without delay,” the top four House
GOP leaders said Tuesday after the bill passed the Senate 51-50, thanks to Vice
President JD Vance's tiebreaking vote.
It's a risky gambit, one designed to meet Trump's demand for a 4
July finish — and there's a steep climb ahead. Since launching early this year,
Republicans have struggled mightily with the bill nearly every step of the way,
often succeeding by only a single vote. Their House majority stands at only
220-212, leaving little room for defections.
Some Republicans are likely to balk at being asked to rubber stamp
the Senate bill less than 24 hours after passage, having had little time to
read or absorb the changes that were made, many at the last minute to win the
vote of Alaska Sen Lisa Murkowski.
House Republicans from competitive districts have bristled at the
Senate bill's cuts to Medicaid, while conservatives have lambasted the
legislation as straying from their fiscal goals.
It falls to Speaker Mike Johnson and his team to convince them
that the time for negotiations is over.
Trump pushes Republicans to
do the right thing
The bill would extend and make permanent various individual and
business tax breaks that Republicans passed in Trump's first term, plus
temporarily add new ones that Trump promised during the campaign, including
allowing workers to deduct tips and overtime pay, and provide a new $6,000 deduction
for most older adults. In all, the legislation contains about $4.5 trillion in
tax cuts over 10 years.
The bill also provides some $350 billion for defense and Trump's
immigration crackdown. Republicans partially pay for it all through less
spending on Medicaid and food assistance. The Congressional Budget Office
projects that it will add about $3.3 trillion in federal deficits over the
coming decade.
The House passed its version of the bill back in May, despite
worries about spending cuts and the overall price tag. Now, they are being
asked to give final passage to a version that, in many respects, exacerbates
those concerns. The Senate bill's projected impact on federal deficits, for
example, is significantly higher.
Trump praised the bill profusely in a social media post, saying
“We can have all of this right now, but only if the House GOP UNITES, ignores
its occasional GRANDSTANDERS' (You know who you are!), and does the right
thing, which is sending this Bill to my desk.”
The high price of opposing
Trump's bill
Speaker Johnson, R-La., is intent on meeting the president's 4
July timeline. He's also betting that hesitant Republicans won't cross Trump
because of the heavy political price they would have to pay.
They need only look to Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who announced his
intention to vote against the legislation over the weekend. Soon, the president
was calling for a primary challenger to the senator and personally attacking
him on social media. Tillis quickly announced he would not seek a third term.
Others could face a similar fate. One House Republican who has
staked out opposition to the bill, Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, is already
being targeted by Trump's well-funded political operation.
Democrats warn health care,
food aid are being ripped away
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries described the bill in dire
terms, saying that cuts in Medicaid spending would result in “Americans losing
their lives because of their inability to access health care coverage.” He said
Republicans are “literally ripping the food out of the mouths of children,
veterans and seniors.”
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