By a marginal majority, the House of Representatives approved the extensive tax and budgetary of the Republicans, offering a significant victory to the president in his second term and proving his ability to maintain GOP MPs.
With 218 votes in favor and 214 against, Thursday’s vote sends the bill to Trump’s office, shortly before the July 4th deadline he had put in Congress to complete it. The bill includes tax cuts, border security enhancement and social spending cuts.
Trump and the leaders of the Republicans pushed to vote after an overnight meeting, despite the reservations of many MPs for the version already approved by the Senate (51-50 votes).
Two Republican MPs, Thomas Massie (Kentucky) and Brian Fitzpatrick (Pennsylvania), voted with all the Democrats against “”, as Trump called it. The vote came after a long day of negotiations with conservative and moderate MPs, with Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson (Republican from Louisiana) eventually managing to persuade them.
‘On the brink of a new golden age’
“We are on the brink of a new golden age for America,” said the leader of the parliamentary majority Steve Scalise (Republican, Louisiana).
The Democrats opposed the bill at all stages of the legislative process, arguing that the poorest Americans would pay the price to reduce business taxes and wealthy citizens.
The head of the parliamentary minority, Hakeem Jeffries (Democrat, New York), used his latest speech to read, for hours, testimonies of voters from the Republican constituencies, who – as he said – would be affected by the bill.
“How can you celebrate the adoption of a bill that undermines the quality of life of ordinary Americans?” wondered.
Jeffries started talking at 4:53 am And he finished at 1:37 pm, breaking the record of the biggest speech in the history of the House, surpassing the previous record of former Republican leader Kevin McCarthy (California). The Democrats, excluded from power, cheered him on shouting “Hakim! Hakim! “
On the other hand, the Republicans complained.
“The sooner the Democrats stop talking, the faster we will pass this bill to the American people,” Mike Johnson said.
‘Republicans support the American people’
The bill indefinitely extends the increased tax deduction for medium -income families and tax benefits for businesses and richer households, such as reductions in rates, contributions and inheritance tax.
New temporary reliefs were also added, such as discounts for tips, overtime, car loan interest and elderly. The limit on the tax deduction for states and local taxes (SALT) has been extended to at least $ 40,000 for five years, a measure that persuaded several Republicans from states under democratic administration to support the bill.
“Republicans support the American people, putting more money in their pocket,” said Jason Smith (Republican, Missouri), chairman of the House Tax Committee.
