The Republican-controlled US Senate advanced President Donald Trump’s package of tax breaks, spending cuts and increased deportation money on Saturday, with more work ahead as the US Congress races to meet his July 4th deadline for passage.
By a 51-49 tally, and with vice-president JD Vance at Capitol Hill to break a potential tie, the senate cleared a key procedural step on Saturday as midnight approached.
Voting had come to a standstill, dragging on for more than three hours, with holdout senators huddling for negotiations and taking private meetings off the Senate floor.
In the end, two Republicans opposed the motion to move ahead on Mr Trump’s signature domestic policy plan, joining all 47 Democrats.
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“Tonight we saw a GREAT VICTORY in the Senate,” said Mr Trump in a social media post afterwards.
Republicans are using their majorities in congress to push aside Democratic opposition, but they have run into several political and policy setbacks.
Not all Republicans are on board with proposals to reduce spending on Medicaid, food stamps and other programmes as a way to help cover the cost of extending some $3.8 trillion in Trump tax breaks.
Mr Trump had threatened to campaign against one Republican, Senator Thom Tillis, who had announced he could not support the Bill because of Medicaid cuts that he worried would leave many without healthcare in his state.
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A fresh analysis from the non-partisan congressional budget office indicated that the senate version of the Bill would increase by 11.8 million the number of people without health insurance in 2034.
Mr Tillis and Senator Rand Paul voted no.
Renewed pressure to oppose the 940-page Bill came from billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, who called it “utterly insane and destructive”.
If senators can pass the Bill, it would return to the House for a final round of votes before it could reach the White House.
With the narrow Republican majorities in congress and the senate, leaders need almost every politician on board.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said Republicans released the Bill “in the dead of night” on Friday and were rushing through before the public knew fully what was in it.
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He forced a full reading of the text that began late on Saturday and continued into the following morning.
At its core, the legislation would make permanent many of the tax breaks from Mr Trump’s first term that would otherwise expire by year’s end if congress fails to act, resulting in a potential tax increase on Americans.
The Bill would add new breaks, including no taxes on tips, and commit $350 billion (€300 billion) to national security, including for Mr Trump’s mass deportation agenda.
But the cutbacks to Medicaid, food stamps and green energy investments are also causing dissent within Republican ranks.
Senator Ron Wyden said the environmental rollbacks would amount to a “death sentence” for America’s wind and solar industries. – AP
