House GOP Pass Trump Tax Breaks Bill   05/22 06:19

   House Republicans stayed up all night to pass their multitrillion-dollar tax 
breaks package, with Speaker Mike Johnson defying the skeptics and unifying his 
ranks to muscle President Donald Trump's priority bill to approval Thursday.

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- House Republicans stayed up all night to pass their 
multitrillion-dollar tax breaks package, with Speaker Mike Johnson defying the 
skeptics and unifying his ranks to muscle President Donald Trump's priority 
bill to approval Thursday.

   With last-minute concessions and stark warnings from Trump, the Republican 
holdouts largely dropped their opposition to salvage the "One Big Beautiful 
Bill" that's central to the GOP agenda. The House launched debate before 
midnight and by dawn the vote was called, 215-214, with Democrats staunchly 
opposed. It next goes to the Senate.

   "To put it simply, this bill gets Americans back to winning again," said 
Johnson, R-La.

   The outcome caps an intense time on Capitol Hill, with days of private 
negotiations and public committee hearings, many happening back-to-back, 
around-the-clock. Republicans insisted their sprawling 1,000-page-plus package 
was what voters sent them to Congress -- and Trump to the White House -- to 
accomplish. They believe it will be "rocket fuel," as one put it during debate, 
for the uneasy U.S. economy.

   Trump himself demanded action, visiting House Republicans at Tuesday's 
conference meeting and hosting GOP leaders and the holdouts for a lengthy 
session Wednesday at the White House. Before the vote, the administration 
warned in a pointed statement that "failure to pass this bill would be the 
ultimate betrayal."

   Central to the package is the GOP's commitment to extending some $4.5 
trillion in tax breaks they engineered during Trump's first term in 2017, while 
temporarily adding new ones he campaigned on during his 2024 campaign, 
including no taxes on tips, overtime pay, car loan interest and others.

   To make up for some of the lost tax revenue, the Republicans focused on 
changes to Medicaid and the food stamps program, largely by imposing work 
requirements on many of those receiving benefits. There's also a massive 
rollback of green energy tax breaks from the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act.

   Additionally, the package tacks on $350 billion in new spending, with about 
$150 billion going to the Pentagon, including for the president's new " Golden 
Dome" defense shield, and the rest for Trump's mass deportation and border 
security agenda.

   All told, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates 8.6 million 
fewer people would have health care coverage and 3 million less people a month 
would have SNAP food stamps benefits with the proposed changes.

   The CBO said the tax provisions would increase federal deficits by $3.8 
trillion over the decade, while the changes to Medicaid, food stamps and other 
services would tally $1 trillion in reduced spending. The lowest-income 
households in the U.S. would see their resources drop, while the highest ones 
would see a boost, it said.

   House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York read letters from 
Americans describing the way the program cuts would hurt them. "This is one big 
ugly bill," he said.

   As the minority, without the votes to stop Trump's package, Democrats 
instead offered up impassioned speeches and procedural moves to stall its 
advance. As soon as the House floor reopened for debate, the Democrats forced a 
vote to adjourn. It failed.

   In "the dark of night they want to pass this GOP tax scam," said Rep. Pete 
Aguilar, D-Calif.

   Other Democrats called it a "big, bad bill" or a "big, broken promise."

   Pulling the package together and pushing it to passage has been an enormous 
political lift for Johnson, with few votes to spare from his slim GOP majority 
whose rank-and-file Republicans have conflicting priorities of their own.

   Conservatives, particularly from the Freedom Caucus, held out for steeper 
spending cuts to defray costs piling onto the nation's $36 trillion debt.

   At the same time, more moderate and centrist GOP lawmakers were wary of the 
changes to Medicaid that could result in lost health care for their 
constituents. And some worried the phaseout of the renewable energy tax breaks 
will impede businesses using them to invest in green energy projects in many 
states.

   One big problem had been the costly deal with GOP lawmakers from New York 
and other high-tax states to quadruple the $10,000 deduction for state and 
local taxes, called SALT, to $40,000 for incomes up to $500,000, which was 
included in the final product.

   For every faction Johnson tried to satisfy, another would roar in opposition.

   Late in the night, GOP leaders unveiled a 42-page amendment with a number of 
revisions.

   The changes included speedier implementation of the Medicaid work 
requirements, which will begin in December 2026, rather than January 2029, and 
a faster roll back of the production tax credits for clean electricity 
projects, both sought by the conservatives.

   Also tucked into the final version were some unexpected additions -- 
including a $12 billion fund for the Department of Homeland Security to 
reimburse states that help federal officials with deportations and border 
security.

   And in a nod to Trump's influence, the Republicans renamed a proposed new 
children's savings program after the president, changing it from MAGA accounts 
-- money account for growth and advancement -- to simply "Trump" accounts.

   Rep. Erin Houchin, R-Ind., said Americans shouldn't believe the dire 
predictions from Democrats about the impact of the bill. "We can unlock the 
'Golden Age' of America," she said, echoing the president's own words.

   By early morning hours, the chief holdouts appeared to be falling in line. 
Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., said they "got some improvements."

   But two Republicans voted against the package, including Rep. Thomas Massie 
of Kentucky, a deficit watcher who had been publicly criticized by Trump, 
remained unmoved. "This bill is a debt bomb ticking," he warned.

   And Rep. Andy Harris, the chairman of the Freedom Caucus who wanted more 
time, voted present. Some others did not vote.

   Final analysis of the overall package's costs and economic impacts are still 
being assessed.

   Along with extending existing tax breaks, it would increase the standard 
income tax deduction, to $32,000 for joint filers, and boost the child tax 
credit to $2,500. There would be an enhanced deduction, of $4,000, for older 
adults of certain income levels, to help defray taxes on Social Security income.

   To cut spending, those seeking Medicaid health care, who are able-bodied 
adults without dependents, would need to fulfill 80 hours a month on a job or 
in other community activities.

   Similarly, to receive food stamps through SNAP, those up to age 64, rather 
than 54, who are able-bodied and without dependents, would need to meet the 80 
hours a month work or community engagement requirements. Additionally, some 
parents of children older than 7 years old would need to fulfill the work 
requirements.

   Republicans said they want to root out waste, fraud and abuse in the federal 
programs.