The Republican-controlled US House of Representatives narrowly passed a sweeping tax and spending bill that would enact much of President Donald Trump’s policy agenda on Thursday and saddle the country with trillions of dollars in debt.
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The bill would fulfil many of Trump’s populist campaign pledges, delivering new tax breaks on tips and car loans and boosting spending on the military and border enforcement. It will add about US$3.8 trillion to the federal government’s US$36.2 trillion in debt over the next decade, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.
What Trump called the “one, big, beautiful bill” passed in a 215-214 vote, with all of the chamber’s Democrats and two Republicans voting against it. A third Republican voted “present”.
The package must also win approval in the Republican-controlled Senate before Trump can sign it into law. The vote came after a marathon push that kept lawmakers debating the bill through two successive nights.
The 1,000-page legislation would extend corporate and individual tax cuts passed in 2017 during Trump’s first term in office, cancel many green-energy incentives passed by Democratic former president Joe Biden and tighten eligibility for health and food programmes for the poor. It also would fund Trump’s crackdown on immigration, adding tens of thousands of border guards and creating the capacity to deport up to 1 million people each year.
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The bill passed despite growing concerns over the US debt, which has reached 124 per cent of GDP, prompted a downgrade of the United States’ top-notch credit rating by Moody’s last week.