Historic: Congress Passes Tax Cuts and Jobs Act

The House passed the final Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, sending the historic tax cut legislation to President Donald Trump to sign. The president said that the tax reform bill would ensure a “Merry Christmas” for the country.

The House passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act 224-201, mostly on partisan lines. Twelve Republicans voted against the legislation, while zero Democrats voted in favor of the tax reform bill.

House Republicans needed to revote on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act after the Senate parliamentarian ruled that three provisions violated the Senate’s Byrd rule for reconciliation. The Senate passed the tax bill 51-48, on an entirely partisan vote. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) did not vote for the bill because he continues to recover from his cancer-related side effects.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said that the Republicans will “rue the day” that they passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

Schumer charged, “This tax bill will be an anchor around the ankles of every Republican. If they haven’t learned it yet, they will learn it next November. Republicans will rue the day they passed this bill and Americans will never let them forget it.”

House Minority Leader Minority Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) argued on the House floor on Tuesday that the GOP tax bill “does violence to the vision of our Founders.” Pelosi also called the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act a “looting of America.”

House Majority Whip Steve Scalice (R-LA) charged on the House floor on Tuesday that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act will be a great “Christmas present for the American people.”

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) argued that lawmakers should vote for the tax reform legislation “to raise the paychecks of the American people.”

Speaker Paul Ryan declared, “Today we give the people of this country their money back.”

“We are finally restoring the freedom to make your own health care choices,” Ryan added.

House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) declared on the House floor on Wednesday, “We will get tax reform done for the first time in 31 years.”

Despite Pelosi and Schumer’s protestations, the non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) found that the American middle-class receives a larger proportional tax cut compared to the country’s wealthiest one percent. The JCT study revealed that the middle-class will receive half of the bill’s tax cuts, while those making over $1 million a year will only receive a 14 percent of the tax cuts.

The Republican Tax Cuts and Jobs Act features massive tax cuts for middle-class families and small businesses and repeals Obamacare’s individual mandate. The final version of the Republican tax legislation reduces the corporate tax rate from 35 to 21 percent, opens up the Arctic Wildlife Refuge for oil drilling, and doubles the standard deduction for individuals and married couples.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act serves as President Donald Trump’s first significant piece of legislation to sign after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell failed to pass an Obamacare repeal bill multiple times through the Senate.

President Donald Trump said that passing the tax reform bill would ensure a “Merry Christmas” for the country. The president told American manufacturers that the GOP tax bill will be “rocket fuel for our economy.”

Trump released a statement congratulating the Republican for passing historic tax reform. Trump said:

I promised the American people a big, beautiful tax cut for Christmas.  With final passage of this legislation, that is exactly what they are getting.  I would like to thank the members of Congress who supported this historic bill, which represents an extraordinary victory for American families, workers, and businesses.  Unemployment continues to fall, the stock market is at a record high, and wages will soon be on the rise.  By cutting taxes and reforming the broken system, we are now pouring rocket fuel into the engine of our economy.  America is back to winning again, and we’re growing like never before.  There is a great spirit of optimism sweeping across our land.  Americans can once again rest assured that our brightest days are still to come.

President Donald Trump tweeted on Wednesday, “The Tax Cuts are so large and so meaningful, and yet the Fake News is working overtime to follow the lead of their friends, the defeated Dems, and only demean. This is truly a case where the results will speak for themselves, starting very soon. Jobs, Jobs, Jobs!”