The US Congress passed Donald Trump’s sprawling tax and spending bill in a significant and hard-fought victory for the president and his domestic agenda.
After a gruelling session on Capitol Hill, the House of Representatives passed the bill by a vote of 218 to 214 on Thursday afternoon. It was passed by the Senate on Tuesday by one vote.
Trump had given the Republican-controlled Congress a deadline of 4 July to get a final version of the bill to his desk to be signed into law.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates the bill could add $3.3tn to federal deficits over the next 10 years and leave millions without health coverage – a forecast that the White House disputes.
It also makes savings through rolling back tax breaks for clean energy projects and making cuts to a food benefits programme.
The spending package delivers on many of Trump’s campaign promises, including making his 2017 tax cuts permanent, as well as legislating new tax breaks for tips, overtime and Social Security recipients – at a cost of $4.5tn over 10 years.
About $150bn (£110bn) will be spent on border security, detention centres and immigration enforcement officers. Another $150bn is allocated for military expenditures, including the president’s “gold dome” missile defence programme.
The fate of the so-called ‘big, beautiful bill’ hung in the balance for much of Wednesday as Republican rebels with concerns about the impact of the bill on national debt held firm – prompting a furious missive from Trump.
“What are the Republicans waiting for??? What are you trying to prove??? MAGA IS NOT HAPPY, AND IT’S COSTING YOU VOTES!!!,” he wrote on Truth Social just after midnight local time on Thursday.
Both chambers of Congress are controlled by Trump’s Republican Party, but within the party several factions were at odds over key policies in the lengthy legislation.
In the early hours of Thursday, Republican leadership grew more confident, and a procedural vote on the bill passed just after 03:00 EDT (07:00 GMT).
The bill’s passage into law was delayed by Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’, who delivered the longest speech in the chamber’s history.
His “magic minute” address, which is a custom that allows party leaders to speak for as long as they like, ran for eight hours and 45 minutes.
Jeffries pledged to take his “sweet time on behalf of the American people”, decrying the bill’s impact on poor Americans.
His speech was watched by a field of tired eyes sitting around him, and proved to be Democrats’ final move before the bill became law.
By BBC News
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