Trump pushes budget passage
Adoption would pave way for tax cut plan waiting in wings
WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald Trump urged House Republicans to move swiftly on passing a budget bill during a conference call Sunday, clearing the way for what he described as historic tax cuts.
Trump and Vice President Mike Pence both joined the House GOP call in which Trump called on members to adopt the budget passed by the Senate this week, so that they can move on to passing his tax reform plan.
Trump told the members they were on the verge of doing something historic, according to one Republican official.
Another GOP aide familiar with the conversation said that Trump told the members again and again that the party would have a steep price to pay in next year’s midterm elections if they failed to pass his plan, which would slash the corporate tax rate to 20 percent and double the standard deduction used by most average Americans. The president also said multiple times that, beyond the looming elections, his plan was the right thing to do for country, the person said.
The Senate last week passed a budget that includes rules that will allow Republicans to get tax legislation through the Senate without Democratic votes and without fear of a Democratic filibuster. The House had passed a different budget, but House Republicans signaled Friday they would simply accept the Senate plan to avoid any potential delay on the tax measure.
Republicans are desperate to rack up a legislative win after a series of embarrassing failures. At the top of the list: their stalled attempts to pass legislation repealing and replacing Obamacare. If tax reform doesn’t pass, many in the party fear an all-out revolt in 2018.
On the call, House Speaker Paul Ryan told members he hoped to pass a revised Senate budget bill this week to increase the chances that tax reform can be enacted by the end of the year.
The leaders emphasized the need for the House to pass the Senate budget to avoid negotiations between the two chambers that could slow the process, said two lawmakers on the call. They said the goal is for House passage of the budget this week, putting the House on track to approve a tax bill by Thanksgiving.
But as the focus turns to taxes, Congress continues to struggle with health care legislation.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Sunday that he’d be willing to bring bipartisan health care legislation to the floor — if Trump makes clear he supports it. A proposal by two senators — Republican Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and Democrat Patty Murray of Washington — would extend for two years federal insurance payments that Trump has blocked, in an effort to stabilize insurance markets. But Trump has offered mixed signals.
Asked whether he would bring the bill to the floor, McConnell said that he was waiting “to hear from President Trump what kind of health care bill he might sign.”