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World News | Senators Launch Weekend of Work to Meet Trump's Deadline for Passing Tax, Spending Cuts
@Source: latestly.com
Washington, Jun 28 (AP) The Senate is preparing for a key procedural vote during a rare Saturday session as Republicans race to pass US President Donald Trump's package of tax breaks, spending cuts and bolstered deportation funds by his July 4 deadline. Republicans are using their majorities in Congress to push aside Democratic opposition, but they have run into a series of political and policy setbacks. Also Read | Donald Trump Warns of Fresh Strikes on Iran, Slams Ayatollah Khamenei Over 'Victory' Claims in Recent War With Israel. Not all GOP lawmakers 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 USD 3.8 trillion in Trump tax breaks. Ahead of the expected roll call, the White House released a statement of administrative policy saying it “strongly supports passage” of the bill that “implements critical aspects” of the president's agenda. Also Read | US Senate Reduces Remittance Tax to 1% From 3.5% in Relief for NRIs. Trump himself was at his golf course in Virginia on Saturday with GOP senators posting about it on social media. "It's time to get this legislation across the finish line," Senate Majority Leader John Thune said. But as the day dragged on, billionaire Elon Musk lashed out, calling the package “utterly insane and destructive". “The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country!” the former top Trump aide said in a post. The 940-page bill was released shortly before midnight Friday, and senators are expected to grind through the days ahead with hours of potentially all-night debate and countless amendments. Senate passage could be days away, and the bill would need to return to the House for a final round of votes before it could reach the White House. With the narrow Republicans majorities in the House and Senate, leaders need almost every lawmaker on board in the face of essentially unified opposition from Democrats. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said Republicans dropped the bill “in the dead of night” and are rushing to finish the bill before the public fully knows what's in it. Make-or-break moment for GOP The weekend session could be a make-or-break moment for Trump's party, which has invested much of its political capital on his signature domestic policy plan. Trump is pushing Congress to wrap it up, even as he sometimes gives mixed signals, allowing for more time. At recent events at the White House, including Friday, Trump has admonished the “grandstanders” among GOP holdouts to fall in line. The legislation is an ambitious but complicated series of GOP priorities. At its core, it would make permanent many of the tax breaks from 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 USD 350 billion to national security, including for Trump's mass deportation agenda. But the spending cuts that Republicans are relying on to offset the lost tax revenues are causing dissent within the GOP ranks. Some lawmakers say the cuts go too far, particularly for people receiving health care through Medicaid. Meanwhile, conservatives, worried about the nation's debt, are pushing for steeper cuts. Senator Thom Tillis said he remains concerned about the fundamentals of the package and will not support the procedural motion to begin debate. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky has been opposed to the measure to raise the nation's debt limit by USD 5 trillion. And Senator Ron Johnson, pushing for deeper cuts, said he needed to see the final legislative text. GOP Senator Tim Sheehy of Montana said he would agree to proceeding to the bill only after being assured a provision for public lands sales he opposes would be taken out with an amendment. After setbacks, Republicans revise some proposals The release of that draft had been delayed as the Senate parliamentarian reviewed the bill to ensure it complied with the chamber's strict “Byrd Rule,” named for the late Senator Robert C. Byrd. It largely bars policy matters from inclusion in budget bills unless a provision can get 60 votes to overcome objections. That would be a tall order in a Senate with a 53-47 GOP edge and Democrats unified against Trump's bill. Republicans suffered a series of setbacks after several proposals were determined to be out of compliance by the chief arbiter of the Senate's rules. One plan would have shifted some food stamp costs from the federal government to the states; a second would have gutted the funding structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. But over the past days, Republicans have quickly revised those proposals and reinstated them. The final text includes a proposal for cuts to a Medicaid provider tax that had run into parliamentary objections and opposition from several senators worried about the fate of rural hospitals. Top income-earners would see about a USD 12,000 tax cut under the House bill, while the package would cost the poorest Americans USD 1,600, the CBO said. (AP) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
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