WASHINGTON — The Republican-controlled US Senate narrowly advanced President Donald Trump’s, sweeping tax-cut and spending bill on Saturday, during a marathon weekend session marked by political drama, division and lengthy delays as Democrats sought to slow the legislation’s path to passage.
Legislators voted 51-49 to open debate on the 940-page megabill, with two of Trump’s fellow Republicans joining Democrats to oppose the legislation that would fund the president’s top immigration, border, tax-cut and military priorities.
Trump on social media hailed the “great victory” for his “great, big, beautiful bill.”
After hours of delay, during which Republican leaders and vice- president JD Vance worked behind closed doors to persuade last-minute holdouts to support the measure, Democrats demanded that the megabill first be read aloud in the chamber — a task that was expected to delay the start of the debate until Sunday afternoon.
Democrats said the bill’s tax cuts would disproportionately benefit the wealthy at the expense of social programmes for lower-income Americans.
Debate
“Senate Republicans are scrambling to pass a radical bill, released to the public in the dead of night, praying the American people don’t realise what’s in it,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor.
“Democrats are going to force this chamber to read it from start to finish,” he said.
Once the bill has been read, legislators will begin up to 20 hours of debate on the legislation. That will be followed by a marathon amendment session, known as a “vote-a-rama,” before the Senate votes on passage. Legislators said they hoped to complete work on the bill on Monday.
Republican Senators Thom Tillis and Rand Paul voted against opening debate, a move that seemed for a time to be in danger of failing.
Trump attacked Tillis, who opposed the bill’s cuts to the Medicaid healthcare programme for lower-income Americans, which he said would be devastating for his native North Carolina. Tillis is up for re-election next year.
“Numerous people have come forward wanting to run in the Primary against 'Senator Thom' Tillis. I will be meeting with them over the coming weeks,” the president posted.
Paul opposed the legislation because it would raise the federal borrowing limit on the $36.2-trillion US debt by an additional $5-trillion.
“Did Rand Paul Vote ‘NO’ again tonight? What’s wrong with this guy???” Trump said on social media.
Last-minute holdouts
Saturday’s vote was in limbo for hours as Vance, Senate majority leader John Thune and other top Republicans sought to persuade last-minute holdouts to support the legislation. It was not clear what deals if any were struck to win over their support.
Hardline Republican Senators Rick Scott, Mike Lee and Cynthia Lummis, who want deeper cuts in federal spending, voted to support the bill in the end. Another hardliner, Senator Ron Johnson, initially voted no but flipped his vote and backed the legislation.
Trump was monitoring the vote from the Oval Office late into the night, a senior White House official said.
The megabill would extend the 2017 tax cuts that were Trump’s main legislative achievement during his first term as president, cut other taxes and boost spending on the military and border security.
The non-partisan Joint Tax Committee released an analysis projecting that the Senate bill’s tax provisions would reduce government revenue by $4.5-trillion over the next decade, increasing US government debt.
The White House said this month the legislation would reduce the annual deficit by $1.4-trillion.
The world’s richest person, Elon Musk, also took a swipe at the bill, which would end tax breaks for the electric vehicles that his automaker Tesla manufactures.
Calling the bill “utterly insane and destructive,” he risked reigniting a feud with Trump that raged earlier this month, before Musk backed down from his rhetoric.
“The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country!” Musk wrote in a post on his social media platform X.
Medicaid
Republicans from states with large rural populations have opposed a reduction in state tax revenue for Medicaid providers, including rural hospitals. The newly released legislation would delay that reduction and would include $25bn to support rural Medicaid providers in 2028-32.
The legislation would raise the cap on federal deductions for state and local taxes to $40,000 with an annual 1% inflation adjustment through 2029, after which it would fall back to $10,000. The bill would also phase the cap down for those earning more than $500,000 a year.
That is a major concern of House Republicans from coastal states, including New York, New Jersey and California, who play an important role in keeping the party’s narrow House majority.
Republicans are using a legislative manoeuvre to bypass the Senate’s 60-vote threshold to advance most legislation in the 100-member chamber.
Democrats will focus their firepower with amendments aimed at reversing Republican spending cuts to programmes that provide government-backed healthcare to the elderly, poor and disabled, as well as food aid to low-income families.
The bill also would raise the treasury department’s debt ceiling by trillions of dollars to stave off a potentially disastrous default on the nation’s debt in the coming months.
If the Senate passes the bill, it will then return to the House of Representatives for final passage before Trump can sign it into law. The House passed its version of the bill last month.
Reuters
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