U.S. House passes Trump's tax and spending cuts bill by narrow margin
CBC
U.S. House Republicans propelled President Donald Trump's big multitrillion-dollar tax breaks and spending cuts bill to final congressional passage on Thursday, overcoming multiple setbacks to approve his signature second-term policy package before a Fourth of July deadline.
The tight roll call, 218-214, came at a potentially high political cost, with two Republicans joining all Democrats opposed. GOP leaders worked overnight and the president himself leaned on a handful of skeptics to drop their opposition.
Democratic leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries delayed voting for more than eight hours by seizing control of the floor with a record-breaking speech against the bill.
Trump celebrated his victory in Iowa, where he attended the kickoff for a year of events marking the country's upcoming 250th anniversary.
"I want to thank Republican congressmen and women, because what they did is incredible," he said. Trump complained that Democrats voted against the bill because "they hate Trump — but I hate them too."
Trump said he plans to sign the legislation on Friday at the White House.
The bill includes a massive spending increase for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and a decrease in funding for Medicaid.
The outcome delivers a milestone for the president and his party. It was a long-shot effort to compile a lengthy list of GOP priorities into the bill, which stands at nearly 900 pages.
With Democrats unified in opposition, the bill will become a defining measure of Trump's return to the White House, aided by Republican control of Congress.
"You get tired of winning yet?" said U.S. House Speaker and Republican Mike Johnson, invoking Trump as he called the vote.
"With one big, beautiful bill we are going to make this country stronger, safer and more prosperous than ever before," he said.
Republicans celebrated with a rendition of the Village People's Y.M.C.A., a song the U.S. president often plays at his rallies, during a ceremony afterward.
At its core, the package's priority is $4.5 trillion US in tax breaks enacted in 2017, during Trump's first term, that would expire if Congress failed to act, along with new ones. This includes allowing workers to deduct tips and overtime pay, and a $6,000 deduction for most older adults earning less than $75,000 a year.
There's also a hefty investment, some $350 billion, in national security and Trump's deportation agenda and to help develop the "Golden Dome" defensive system over the U.S.
