Concerned citizen: Paul speaks to reporters as lawmakers struggle to pass Trump’s sweeping spending and tax bill on Capitol Hill in Washington. He opposed the legislation because it would raise the federal borrowing limit by an additional US$5 trillion. — Reuters
WASHINGTON: US Senate Republicans push President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax cut and spending bill forward in a marathon weekend session even as a nonpartisan forecaster said it would add an estimated US$3.3 trillion to the nation’s debt over a decade.
The estimate by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) of the bill’s hit to the US$36.2 trillion federal debt is about US$800bil more than the version passed last month in the House of Representatives.
Senators were scheduled to vote on a potentially long list of amendments to the bill yesterday.
Republicans, who have long voiced concern about growing US deficits and debt, have rejected the CBO’s longstanding methodology to calculate the cost of legislation.
Democrats, meanwhile, hope the latest, eye-widening figure could stoke enough anxiety among financially-minded conservatives to get them to buck their party, which controls both chambers of Congress.
“Republicans are doing something the Senate has never, never done before, deploying fake math and accounting gimmicks to hide the true cost of the bill,” Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said as debate opened on Sunday.
“Republicans are about to pass the single most expensive bill in US history, to give tax breaks to billionaires while taking away Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programme benefits and good paying jobs for millions of people.”
The Senate only narrowly advanced the tax-cut, immigration, border and military spending bill in a procedural vote late on Saturday, voting 51-49 to open debate on the 940-page megabill.
Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, one of two Republicans who voted to block the bill, explained his position in a speech to the Senate, saying White House aides had failed to give Trump proper advice about the legislation’s Medicaid cuts.
“What do I tell 663,00 people in two years, three years, when President Trump breaks his promise by pushing them off of Medicaid because the funding’s not there anymore,” Tillis said, referring to his constituents.
Trump on social media hailed Saturday’s vote as a “great victory” for his “great, big, beautiful bill”.
In a separate post on Sunday, he said: “We will make it all up, times 10, with growth, more than ever before.”
In an illustration of the depths of the divide within the Republican Party over the bill, Tillis said he would not seek re-election next year, after Trump threatened to back a primary challenger in retribution for Tillis’ Saturday night vote against the bill.
On Sunday, Trump celebrated Tillis’ announcement as “Great News” on Truth Social and issued a warning to fellow Republicans who have concerns over the bill.
“Remember, you still have to get reelected. Don’t go too crazy!” Trump wrote in a post.
Tillis’ North Carolina seat is one of the few Republican Senate seats seen as vulnerable in next year’s midterm elections.
Trump wants the bill passed before the July 4 Independence Day holiday.
While that deadline is one of choice, lawmakers will face a far more serious deadline later this summer when they must raise the nation’s self-imposed debt ceiling or risk a devastating default on US$36.2 trillion in debt.
Senator Mark Warner, a Democrat from Virginia, said this legislation would come to haunt Republicans if it gets approved, predicting 16 million Americans would lose their health insurance.
“Many of my Republican friends know that they’re walking the plank on this and we’ll see if those who’ve expressed quiet consternation will actually have the courage of their convictions,” Warner told CBS News’ Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.
The legislation was the sole focus of a marathon weekend congressional session marked by political drama, division and lengthy delays as Democrats sought to slow the legislation’s path to passage. — Reuters
