Republicans hope to finalize Trump’s tax and policy bills by the end of July to avoid default.
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Reuters
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax and policy bill that will change the daily lives of Americans has cleared one major hurdle after several negotiations at the US home and the president’s own support.
But the law of over 1,000 pages remains a long way from becoming law.
The House bill, which passed its narrowest margin in early May, brings good news to the country’s wealthiest car buyers, parents, waiters and waitresses. It also contains bad news for people under $50,000, Medicaid and Food Stamp recipients, and those still in student loan debt.
It is also one puzzle piece to Trump and his GOP allies become the signature part of the president’s second term legislative. Hours after House Republican leaders celebrated the “generational” and “state-forming” laws, their Senate colleagues still have to write and pass on their own version of the bill.
“I think there’s a significant change in the Senate,” said Sen. Ted Cruz of R-Texas.
First: The battle for deficits and spending
The House Passed Act will be facilitated by a permanent extension of the 2017 income tax cuts that add an estimated $3.8 trillion to national debt over the next decade and that Trump signed the law during his first term. The bill also includes tips, temporary tax cuts for overtime, seniors and buyers of American-made cars. It also supports child tax credits, among other benefits.
When combined, it corresponds to a price tag related to fiscal conservatives who have considerable power in negotiations in the future.
“Someone has to be a dad who says, ‘I know everyone wants to go to Disney World, but I can’t afford it,'” said Sen. R-Wisconsin. “That’s what has to happen here in the Senate.”
The $1.5 trillion houses being cut from federal budgets “is not squatting,” Johnson added.
“These are numbers that force me to look at the Senate and the White House people and to admit,” Johnson said.
Unlike fellow House fiscal conservatives who were unable to extract even greater spending cuts, Johnson said that GOP members who ultimately voted for the package did so because they were faced with key challengers and wanted to keep their seats.
“You can’t put pressure on me like that,” said Johnson, 70, who won his latest six-year term in the 2022 election. “We ran in 2010 because we were mortgageing our children’s future. It was wrong, immoral, we had to stop.”
Medicaid cuts the hearts of GOP Senators
The law passed at home also made major changes to Medicaid, pushing an estimated 7.6 million Americans out of coverage while saving $625 billion from low-income healthcare programs.
Several senators have raised concerns about cutting back on the House of Representatives programs. As GOP leadership suggests, Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican who will be re-electioned for the sixth term in 2026, says the bill’s language goes beyond “waste, fraud, abuse.”
Sen. Jim Justice, who was also wary of changes to Medicaid in the lower room, said he would not “cut it down to bones,” but wanted to eliminate some of the bills that would limit the state’s restriction of funding to pay some of Medicaid payments through health-related taxes known as the “provider tax.”
“That would put a huge burden on the state,” said the judge, a freshman senator who was elected last November.
And the bill will cut off many of the clean energy tax credits passed under former President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, just 60 days after the bill was passed.
“I support some of the IRA tax credits,” said Sen. Jerry Moran of R-Kansas, “an important energy component for my state and the Midwest.”
What is the Senate schedule?
The senator is expected to begin reviewing the House bill in the committee soon. Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent said the final bill must be passed at the end of July before lawmakers leave for summer holidays.
Management and Budget Director Russ Vault said the administration will begin consultations with the Senate on May 22.
Senate majority leader John Tune, Rs.D. and Sen. Mike Krapo, R-Idaho, chair of the Budget Committee, is working “eagerly,” Vought said.
“We’re just starting the Senate,” Vought said, “after a huge, historic victory.” “I’m going to start these conversations today.”
The bill includes an increase in the debt cap of $4 trillion. This must be approved sometime in August to prevent a catastrophic default in national debt.
Assuming all Democrats oppose him, Trump cannot lose more than three Republicans in the Senate. Under most laws, Republicans typically need 10 Democratic votes to bypass the 60-vote filibuster threshold.
But Trump’s Tax and Expenditure Policy Bill is written through a complex process known as “settlement.” This requires only a simple majority to pass through the upper chamber, but limits the policy to regulations related to spending or revenue increase.
Trump cannot celebrate his victory simply by securing a Senate majority. If the senator tweaks to the laws he attends the house, it will have to be settled in negotiations between the two rooms. The measure then must be taken again for final approval by both the House and Senate before Trump signs the law.
Contribution: Bad Jansen
(This story has been updated with more information.)
