WASHINGTON: The US Senate version of President Donald Trump\u2019s sweeping tax-cut and spending bill will add $3.3 trillion to the nation\u2019s debt, about $800 billion more than the version passed last month by the House of Representatives, a nonpartisan forecaster said on Sunday.
\nThe Congressional Budget Office issued its estimate of the bill\u2019s hit to the $36.2 trillion federal debt as Senate Republicans sought to push the bill forward in a marathon weekend session.
\nRepublicans, who have long voiced concern about growing US deficits and debt, have rejected the CBO\u2019s longstanding methodology to calculate the cost of legislation. But Democrats hope the latest, eye-widening figure could stoke enough anxiety among fiscally-minded conservatives to get them to buck their party, which controls both chambers of Congress.
\nThe 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.
\nTrump on social media hailed Saturday\u2019s vote as a \u201cgreat victory\u201d for his \u201cgreat, big, beautiful bill.\u201d
\nIn an illustration of the depths of the divide within the Republican Party over the bill, Senator Thom Tillis said he would not seek re-election next year, after Trump threatened to back a primary challenger in retribution for Tillis\u2019 Saturday night vote against the bill.
\nTillis\u2019 North Carolina seat is one of the few Republican Senate seats seen as vulnerable in next year\u2019s midterm elections. He was one of just two Republicans to vote no on Saturday.
\nTrump 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\u2019s self-imposed debt ceiling or risk a devastating default on $36.2 trillion in debt.
\n\u201cWe are going to make sure hardworking people can keep more of their money,\u201d Senator Katie Britt, an Alabama Republican, told CNN\u2019s State of the Union on Sunday.<\/p>\n
HITS TO BENEFITS
\nSenator 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.
\n\u201cMany of my Republican friends know … they\u2019re walking the plank on this and we\u2019ll see if those who\u2019ve expressed quiet consternation will actually have the courage of their convictions,\u201d Warner told CBS News\u2019 \u201cFace the Nation with Margaret Brennan.\u201d
\nThe legislation has been the sole focus of a marathon weekend congressional session marked by political drama, division and lengthy delays as Democrats seek to slow the legislation\u2019s path to passage.
\nTop Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer called for the entire text of the bill to be read on the Senate floor, a process that began before midnight Saturday and ran well into Sunday afternoon. Following that lawmakers will begin up to 20 hours of debate on the legislation. That will be followed by an amendment session, known as a \u201cvote-a-rama,\u201d before the Senate votes on passage. Lawmakers said they hoped to complete work on the bill on Monday.
\nSenator Rand Paul of Kentucky, the other Republican \u201cno\u201d vote, opposed the legislation because it would raise the federal borrowing limit by an additional $5 trillion.
\n\u201cDid Rand Paul Vote \u2018NO\u2019 again tonight? What\u2019s wrong with this guy???\u201d Trump said on social media.
\nThe megabill would extend the 2017 tax cuts that were Trump\u2019s main legislative achievement during his first term as president, cut other taxes and boost spending on the military and border security.
\nRepresentative Michael McCaul, however, warned that fellow Republicans who do not back Trump on the bill could face payback from voters.
\n\u201cThey know that their jobs are at risk. Not just from the president, but from the voting \u2014 the American people. Our base back home will not reelect us to office if we vote no on this,\u201d McCaul also told CBS News.
\nSenate Republicans, who reject the CBO\u2019s estimates on the cost of the legislation, are set on using an alternative calculation method that does not factor in costs from extending the 2017 tax cuts. Outside tax experts, like Andrew Lautz from the nonpartisan think tank Bipartisan Policy Center, call it a \u201cmagic trick.\u201d
\nUsing this calculation method, the Senate Republicans\u2019 budget bill appears to cost substantially less and seems to save $500 billion, according to the BPC analysis.
\nIf the Senate passes the bill, it will then return to the House of Representatives for final passage before Trump can sign it into law. The House passed its version of the bill last month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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