WASHINGTON – Republican holdouts appear to have a deal with House GOP leadership to advance President Donald Trump‘s sweeping tax policy bill.
The legislation will be tweaked to move up the implementation of Medicaid work requirements from 2029 to December of 2026; would cut off many green energy tax credits for projects beginning 60 days after the bill passes; change the name of new savings accounts from “MAGA” accounts to “Trump” accounts; and raise a state and local tax deduction cap to $40,000 for people who make less than $500,000 per year, according to an amendment released late on May 21.
“I think that all of our colleagues here will really like the final product and I think we’re going to move forward,” House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters Wednesday evening before the changes were released.
The changes hit on several outstanding policy demands that Republicans had been debating in meetings for days. Republicans introduced the amendment and passed it through a key committee shortly before 11 p.m., while Democrats protested that they hadn’t had a chance to review the deal.
“I have no idea what the implications are of the changes being made,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the Rules Committee, which had been in a meeting to debate the legislation for around 20 hours before the changes were introduced.
Lawmakers plan to vote on the bill as soon as this evening or tomorrow morning. They can lose only three Republican votes and still get it across the finish line. After that, the bill would be reviewed by the Senate before it can go to the president’s desk.
The amendment came after several marathon days of negotiations between House Republican leadership and several factions of the conference, including ultraconservative members of the House Freedom Caucus pushing for deeper cuts, blue-state Republicans pushing for a higher state and local tax deduction, and others seeking to roll back Biden-era green energy subsidies.
However, it’s not clear that there will be enough votes to pass the legislation. Some lawmakers say they aren’t happy with the changes. Rep. Andrew Garbarino, R-New York, for example, told reporters he’s “not happy” with the changes to the green energy tax credits.
Lawmakers went to the White House in the afternoon on May 21, where Trump urged lawmakers to get on board with the plan. The Office of Management and Budget released a statement saying: “Failure to pass this bill would be the ultimate betrayal.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump tax bill back on track? GOP leadership unveils awaited updates
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