House Republicans passed a budget bill Tuesday that is the first step toward extending Trump’s tax cuts and reducing spending on Medicaid. But Republicans nearly failed, and the two hours of messiness that led to its passage is an early sign of how difficult it will be to enact President Trump’s agenda.
Republican leadership initially cancelled the vote on the budget resolution after more than an hour of trying to convince GOP holdouts to switch their votes. About 10 minutes later, leadership called for a second vote, and lawmakers schlepped back to the House floor to vote again. The bill passed 217 to 215 with Rep. Tom Massie of Kentucky as the sole Republican no vote. Tie votes fail in the House, so one more Republican no vote would’ve sunk it. All Democrats voted against the bill.
It’s a shaky start for Republicans, who want to renew Trump’s tax cuts from 2017, eliminate taxes on tips and overtime pay, lower taxes on companies that manufacture in the United States, and reduce taxes on Social Security benefits. Republicans plan to reach those goals by using a budget reconciliation process that would allow them to pass the tax cuts without support from Democrats.
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