By David Morgan and Bo Erickson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump is expected to head to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to meet with congressional Republicans as they aim to reach agreement on a sweeping tax-cut bill, with their narrow majority divided over the scope of spending cuts.
Hardline Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday briefly blocked the advance of the bill – which nonpartisan analysts say could add $3 trillion to $5 trillion to the federal government’s $36.2 trillion in debt – but relented on Sunday.
The bill would extend the 2017 tax cuts that were Trump’s signature first-term legislative achievement, and also add tax breaks on income from tips and overtime pay that were part of his populist push on the campaign trail.
He is expected to try to unify the divided 220-213 House majority, including hardliners eager for deep spending cuts, moderates worried about protecting Medicaid and Republican lawmakers from coastal states eager to protect their constituents’ ability to deduct state and local taxes.
Republicans are looking to parliamentary maneuvers to bypass the objections of Democrats, who say the bill disproportionately benefits the wealthy and will take a deep bite out of social programs.
“I think he’ll urge people to get together and I think it’ll be an upbeat speech … I’m glad he’s coming,” said hardline Republican Representative Ralph Norman of South Carolina, one of the handful who voted against the bill on Friday.
House Speaker Mike Johnson aims to pass the measure by Thursday, before the Memorial Day holiday weekend, setting the stage for the Senate to take it up next month.
“I’m very optimistic we will find the right equilibrium point to get this bill delivered,” Johnson told reporters on Monday, even as he acknowledged that some thorny issues were unresolved.
Hanging over Republicans is a move by credit-ratings firm Moody’s, which last week stripped the U.S. federal government of its top-tier credit rating. It cited multiple administrations and Congress failing to address the nation’s growing debt.
The Republican-controlled Congress so far has not rejected any of Trump’s legislative requests.
If the House passes the bill, the Senate will have to labor to pass a partisan bill that could differ significantly from the House’s.
“It’s not going to happen overnight. But it should happen in a timely way,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota told reporters on Monday.
Republicans control the Senate by a 53-47 margin and at least one conservative, Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, has already stated reservations with the House’s Medicaid provisions.
(Reporting by David Morgan and Bo Erickson; Additional reporting by Nandita Bose and Jeff Mason; Writing by Richard Cowan; Editing by Scott Malone and Jamie Freed)
Comments