WASHINGTON: Republicans in the House of Representatives on Wednesday moved closer toward advancing U.S. President Donald Trump’s massive tax-cut and spending bill, appearing to overcome concerns over its cost that had been raised by a handful of hardliners.
As lawmakers shuttled in and out of closed-door meetings, a procedural vote held open for more than seven hours to give Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson time to convince holdouts to back the president’s signature bill. In the end it passed 220-212 along party lines, an indication but not a guarantee that Trump may have won over skeptics.
One more preliminary vote was scheduled ahead of the main vote on the bill on the House floor, when minority Democrats, critical of cuts to social spending, were expected to make a final stand against the legislation.
Leaving Speaker Johnson’s office before the procedural vote closed, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer told Reuters progress was being made.
“There’s going to be a vote tonight, and we’ll finish voting on the rule, and then we’ll do the debate. We’ll vote on the bill,” Emmer said.
Trump struck an optimistic tone in a social media post.
“It looks like the House is ready to vote tonight. We had GREAT conversations all day, and the Republican House Majority is UNITED, for the Good of our Country, delivering the Biggest Tax Cuts in History and MASSIVE Growth. Let’s go Republicans, and everyone else – MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” he wrote on Truth Social.
The Senate passed the legislation, which nonpartisan analysts say will add $3.4 trillion to the nation’s $36.2 trillion in debt over the next decade, by the narrowest possible margin on Tuesday after intense debate on the bill’s hefty price tag and $900 million in cuts to the Medicaid healthcare program for low-income Americans.
With a narrow 220-212 majority, Johnson can afford no more than three defections from his ranks. Earlier in the day, skeptics from the party’s right flank said they had more than enough votes to block the bill.
“He knows I’m a ‘no.’ He knows that I don’t believe there are the votes to pass this rule the way it is,” Republican Representative Andy Harris of Maryland, leader of the hardline Freedom Caucus, told reporters.
Trump, who is pressing lawmakers to get him the bill to sign into law by the July 4 Independence Day holiday, met with some of the dissenters at the White House.
Democrats are united in opposition to the bill, saying that its tax breaks disproportionately benefit the wealthy while cutting services that lower- and middle-income Americans rely on.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that almost 12 million people could lose health insurance as a result of the bill.
Trump tax-cut plan returns to US House, Republicans divided on bill
“This bill is catastrophic. It is not policy, it is punishment,” Democratic Representative Jim McGovern said in debate on the House floor.
Trump effect
Republicans in Congress have struggled to stay united in recent years, but they also have not defied Trump since he returned to the White House in January.
Representative Chip Roy of Texas was leading three holdouts who have raised concerns about increasing the deficit and high levels of spending.
Asked why he expects the bill to pass, Republican Representative Derrick Van Orden told reporters: “Because 77 million Americans voted for Donald Trump, not Chip Roy. That’s why.”
Any changes made by the House would require another Senate vote, which would make it all but impossible to meet the July 4 deadline.
The legislation contains most of Trump’s top domestic priorities, from tax cuts to immigration enforcement.
The bill would extend Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, cut health and food safety net programs, fund Trump’s immigration crackdown, and zero out many green-energy incentives. It also includes a $5 trillion increase in the nation’s debt ceiling, which lawmakers must address in the coming months or risk a devastating default.
The Medicaid cuts have also raised concerns among some Republicans, prompting the Senate to set aside more money for rural hospitals.
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