WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans advanced their massive tax cuts and border security package through a key House committee during a rare Sunday night vote, while deficit advocates who had blocked the measure two days earlier allowed it to advance due to supposed progress in negotiations on spending cuts in the package.
The fiscal plan includes the proposal to impose a five percent tax on remittances sent by migrants.
House Speaker Mike Johnson met with Republican lawmakers shortly before the vote and told reporters that some changes had been agreed upon, but he did not go into details, saying only that they were “just some minor modifications. It’s not something huge.”
Democratic committee members pressed for more details, but House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington said the bill remained under negotiation.
“Deliberations continue as we speak,” Arrington said. “They will continue throughout the week, and I suspect until such time as we put this big, beautiful bill on the floor.”
The four conservatives who have been voicing concerns about the bill’s impact on the deficit voted to allow the measure to advance by a vote of 17-16.
More negotiations are planned, but Johnson is looking to bring the bill to the House floor before the end of the week.
“This is the vehicle through which we will fulfill the mandate that the American people gave us in the last election,” he declared on “Fox News Sunday.”
The Budget Committee of the House of Representatives of #USA approved and “revived” the president’s tax bill #Trumpwhich includes the proposal to impose a 5% tax on remittances, in a weekend vote. This proposal… pic.twitter.com/TJxZKRbD0P
— SPR Informa (@SPRInforma) May 19, 2025
First failed attempt
The first time Republicans tried to advance the bill in the Budget Committee last week, deficit advocates joined Democrats in voting against reporting the measure to the full House.
Republicans criticizing the measure noted that the bill’s new spending and tax cuts are concentrated at the beginning of the bill, while measures to offset the cost are at the end. They seek to accelerate new work requirements that Republicans want to implement for eligible Medicaid participants. Those requirements would not take effect until 2029 under the current bill.
“We’re writing checks we can’t cash, and our kids are going to pay the price,” said Rep. Chip Roy. “Something needs to change, or they won’t get my support.”
At its core, the sweeping legislative package permanently extends existing income tax cuts passed during Trump’s first term in 2017 and adds other temporary cuts the president announced during his campaign, including no taxes on tips, overtime pay and auto loan interest payments. The measure also proposes large increases in defense and border security spending.
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan watchdog group, estimates that the bill is set to add roughly $3.3 trillion to the debt over the next decade.
Democrats overwhelmingly oppose the measure, which Republicans have labeled “The Big, Beautiful Bill Act.” Representative Pramila Jayapal called it “a huge and beautiful betrayal.”
“This spending bill is terrible, and I think the American people know it,” Rep. Jim Clyburn told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.
Johnson doesn’t just have to address the concerns of deficit advocates within his party. He also faces pressure from centrists who will be warily watching proposed changes to Medicaid, food assistance programs and the rollback of clean energy tax credits.
#Trumps #tax #plan #advances #includes #percent #tax #remittances