President Trump signs tax and spending bills
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump signed the most consequential tax legislation in three decades on Friday, even as he complained that he has not been given credit for his administration’s accomplishments during a turbulent first year.
Also Friday, the president signed a temporary spending bill into law to avert a government shutdown after the Republican-led Congress did the bare minimum in a sprint toward the holidays, punting disputes on immigration, health care and the budget to next year.
On the tax overhaul, Trump decided against doing a formal signing ceremony early next year because television news networks questioned whether he would keep his promise to sign the legislation before Christmas.
Trump said he saw the coverage Friday morning and hastily called his staff to say that the legislation needed to be signed “now,” prompting a last-minute Oval Office ceremony for the president’s greatest achievement in his first year in office.
“We did a rushed job today,” Trump said at the bill signing. “It’s not fancy, but it’s the Oval Office. It’s the great Oval Office.”
It marked another improvisational moment in a presidency already known for abandoning the norms of the office.
The bill was the most significant legislative victory for Trump, who has struggled during his first year in office to pass major bills that would deliver on campaign promises, even with Republicans having the majority in both chambers of Congress. Republicans promise the new tax law will benefit the middle class, but Democrats have warned that the law could be harmful to many lower-income taxpayers and to the nation’s fiscal health.
“It’s going to be a tremendous thing for the American people,” Trump said.
Before signing the legislation Friday, Trump said in a Twitter post that companies were celebrating the bill’s passage with bonuses for workers. He wrote: “Our big and very popular Tax Cut and Reform Bill has taken on an unexpected new source of “love” — that is big companies and corporations showering their workers with bonuses. This is a phenomenon that nobody even thought of, and now it is the rage. Merry Christmas!”
During the signing ceremony, Trump said, “Corporations are literally going wild over this.” A handful of companies, including AT&T, which is seeking government approval of a major acquisition of Time Warner, have announced that they would give bonuses to workers.
There was some discussion in Congress and at the White House that Trump should consider delaying the signing until early 2018 as a way to delay automatic spending cuts that could have been triggered by the tax cuts. In addition, some companies said that delay would give them more time to adjust to the major changes that the new tax code will mean for their businesses.
However, once Congress reached a deal this week to avoid the possibility of the spending cuts, White House officials signaled that Trump wanted to sign the bill into law as soon as possible.
Trump often reacts to television news, and Friday was no different. The president delayed his travel to Florida for the holidays by an hour to stave off potential criticism.
“Every one of the networks said, ‘Will he keep his promise?’” the president said.
Shortly after 10 a.m., Trump announced in a Twitter post that the bill would be signed “in 30 minutes.”
Earlier in the morning, the president suggested that he would not get credit for what he said were extraordinary accomplishments for a first year.
Under the new tax law, individual rates will be lowered, but those cuts are set to expire in 2025. The standard deduction, which will almost double, is likely to become more popular. The tax credit for children will also double, which Republicans have said will benefit lower-income families. The largest cut by far in the new tax law — which will not expire — benefits corporations.
The new law has been criticized by lawmakers representing states with high taxes, because the bill caps state and local tax deductions at $10,000.
The law also eliminates the Affordable Care Act’s mandate that most people have health insurance or pay a penalty. Trump has said that amounted to repealing President Barack Obama’s signature health care law, but 8.8 million Americans signed up for coverage, according to figures his administration announced Thursday. The law is not repealed, but the mandate had been considered an important feature of it.
As for the temporary spending measure, the bill passed the House on Thursday on a 231-188 vote over Democratic opposition and then cleared the Senate, 66-32, with Democrats from Republican-leaning states providing many of the key votes.
The stopgap legislation was passed to keep the government from closing down at midnight Friday. It traversed a tortured path, encountering resistance from the GOP’s most ardent allies of the military, as well as opposition from Democrats who demanded but were denied a vote on giving immigrants brought to the country as children and in the country illegally an opportunity to become citizens.
The wrap-up measure allows Republicans controlling Washington to savor their win on this week’s $1.5 trillion tax package — even as they kick a full lineup of leftover work into the new year. Congress will return in January facing enormous challenges on immigration, the federal budget, health care and national security along with legislation to increase the government’s authority to borrow money.
Each of those items is sure to test the unity that Republicans are enjoying for the moment.
“Now it gets down to some very difficult decisions on how we move forward in the first and second quarter of next year,” said Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., a leader of a powerful faction of hard-right Republicans. “There is a lot to do next month. I’m not worried today. I’ll wait until January to be worried, OK?”