US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax-cut bill, which had been stalled for days by Republican infighting over spending cuts, won approval from a key congressional committee on Sunday in a rare victory for Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson.
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At an unusual Sunday night session, four hardline Republican conservatives on the House Budget Committee, who had blocked the legislation on Friday, allowed the bill to move forward as they pressed for deeper spending cuts in closed-door talks with Republican leaders and White House officials.
“We’ve made progress this weekend … but we didn’t get nearly far enough,” Representative Chip Roy, one of the four hardliners, told reporters after the panel approved the bill.
A possible vote on passage in the House of Representatives could take place later this week.
Non-partisan analysts say the bill would add US$3 trillion to US$5 trillion to the nation’s US$36.2 trillion in debt over the next decade. Moody’s cited the rising debt, which it said was on track to reach 134 per cent of gross domestic product by 2035, for its decision on Friday to downgrade its US credit rating.
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