Trump shows frustration as Republicans struggle to unite on tax-cut bill
Republicans in the House of Representatives on Wednesday appeared to advance Trump's massive tax-cut and spending bill, but then progress stalled with a handful of holdouts refusing to vote for a bill that nonpartisan analysts say will add $3.4 trillion to the nation's $36.2 trillion in debt over the next decade.
The holdouts could switch their vote and support the president as Republican leaders held open the vote while they continued to negotiate.
Trump argued the legislation would promote economic growth and said it was popular with his MAGA base.
The package contains most of the president's top domestic priorities: extending his 2017 tax cuts, cutting health and food safety net programs, funding Trump's immigration crackdown, and zeroing 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.
As a marathon session on Wednesday dragged into the early morning hours of Thursday, Trump and his allies appeared frustrated that the legislation had yet to clear a procedural hurdle, with voting continuing in the US House of Representatives. That vote was needed to advance the bill to a final vote on the House floor.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) leaves the House Chamber during a procedural vote on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on Wednesday. AFP
Trump warned Republicans who were not on board that they would lose support from his base, posting on his Truth Social platform that the holdout was "ridiculous." In a post after midnight US eastern time, he wrote: "FOR REPUBLICANS, THIS SHOULD BE AN EASY YES VOTE. RIDICULOUS!!!"
In another earlier post he had written: "What are the Republicans waiting for??? What are you trying to prove??? MAGA IS NOT HAPPY, AND IT'S COSTING YOU VOTES!!!"
A handful of so-called fiscal hawks, who oppose deficit spending, have voted "no" along with all the House Democrats, who are critical of cuts to social spending. The Medicaid cuts have also raised concerns among some Republicans, prompting the Senate to set aside more money for rural hospitals.
The Senate passed Trump's legislation 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.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Jason Smith (R-MO) speaks to press outside the House Chamber on Wednesday. AFP
Any changes made by the House would require another Senate vote, which would make it all but impossible to meet the July 4 Independence Day deadline set by Trump.
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.
"This bill is catastrophic. It is not policy, it is punishment," Democratic Representative Jim McGovern said in debate on the House floor.
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.
Reuters
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