House GOP Races Toward Final Vote      07/02 06:18

   Republican leaders in the House are sprinting toward a Wednesday vote on 
President Donald Trump's tax and spending cuts package, determined to seize 
momentum from a hard-fought vote in the Senate while essentially daring members 
to defy their party's leader and vote against it.

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- Republican leaders in the House are sprinting toward a 
Wednesday vote on President Donald Trump's tax and spending cuts package, 
determined to seize momentum from a hard-fought vote in the Senate while 
essentially daring members to defy their party's leader and vote against it.

   "The American people gave us a clear mandate, and after four years of 
Democrat failure, we intend to deliver without delay," the top four House GOP 
leaders said Tuesday after the bill passed the Senate 51-50, thanks to Vice 
President JD Vance's tiebreaking vote.

   It's a risky gambit, one designed to meet Trump's demand for a July 4 finish 
-- and there's a steep climb ahead. Since launching early this year, 
Republicans have struggled mightily with the bill nearly every step of the way, 
often succeeding by only a single vote. Their House majority stands at only 
220-212, leaving little room for defections.

   Some Republicans are likely to balk at being asked to rubber stamp the 
Senate bill less than 24 hours after passage, having had little time to read or 
absorb the changes that were made, many at the last minute to win the vote of 
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski.

   House Republicans from competitive districts have bristled at the Senate 
bill's cuts to Medicaid, while conservatives have lambasted the legislation as 
straying from their fiscal goals.

   It falls to Speaker Mike Johnson and his team to convince them that the time 
for negotiations is over.

   Trump pushes Republicans to do 'the right thing'

   The bill would extend and make permanent various individual and business tax 
breaks that Republicans passed in Trump's first term, plus temporarily add new 
ones that Trump promised during the campaign, including allowing workers to 
deduct tips and overtime pay, and provide a new $6,000 deduction for most older 
adults. In all, the legislation contains about $4.5 trillion in tax cuts over 
10 years.

   The bill also provides some $350 billion for defense and Trump's immigration 
crackdown. Republicans partially pay for it all through less spending on 
Medicaid and food assistance. The Congressional Budget Office projects that it 
will add about $3.3 trillion in federal deficits over the coming decade.

   The House passed its version of the bill back in May, despite worries about 
spending cuts and the overall price tag. Now, they are being asked to give 
final passage to a version that, in many respects, exacerbates those concerns. 
The Senate bill's projected impact on federal deficits, for example, is 
significantly higher.

   Trump praised the bill profusely in a social media post, saying "We can have 
all of this right now, but only if the House GOP UNITES, ignores its occasional 
'GRANDSTANDERS' (You know who you are!), and does the right thing, which is 
sending this Bill to my desk."

   The high price of opposing Trump's bill

   Speaker Johnson, R-La., is intent on meeting the president's July 4 
timeline. He's also betting that hesitant Republicans won't cross Trump because 
of the heavy political price they would have to pay.

   They need only look to Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who announced his intention 
to vote against the legislation over the weekend. Soon, the president was 
calling for a primary challenger to the senator and personally attacking him on 
social media. Tillis quickly announced he would not seek a third term.

   Others could face a similar fate. One House Republican who has staked out 
opposition to the bill, Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, is already being 
targeted by Trump's well-funded political operation.

   House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said leadership was not 
entertaining the possibility of making changes to the bill before the final 
vote. He said the two chambers already agree on the vast majority of what's in 
it.

   "It's not as easy as saying, 'hey, I just want one more change,' because one 
more change could end up being what collapses the entire thing," Scalise said.

   Democratic lawmakers, united against the bill as harmful to the country, 
condemned the process as rushed. Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., said there's no 
real deadline for getting the bill passed by July 4th.

   "We're rushing not because the country demands it, but because he wants to 
throw himself another party," McGovern said. "This isn't policy. It's ego 
management."

   Democrats warn health care, food aid are being ripped away

   House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries described the bill in dire terms, 
saying that cuts in Medicaid spending would result in "Americans losing their 
lives because of their inability to access health care coverage." He said 
Republicans are "literally ripping the food out of the mouths of children, 
veterans and seniors."

   "House Democrats are going to do everything we can for the next few hours, 
today, tomorrow, for the balance of this week and beyond to stop this bill from 
ever becoming law," Jeffries said.

   Republicans say they are trying to rightsize the safety net programs for the 
population they were initially designed to serve, mainly pregnant women, the 
disabled and children, and root out what they describe as waste, fraud and 
abuse.

   The package includes new 80-hour-a-month work requirements for many adults 
receiving Medicaid and applies existing work requirements in the Supplemental 
Nutrition Assistance Program to more beneficiaries. States will also pick up 
more of the cost for food benefits, with the amount based on their payment 
error rates, which include both underpayments and overpayments.

   The driving force behind the bill, however, is the tax cuts. Many expire at 
the end of this year if Congress doesn't act.

   "Passing this bill means smaller tax bills and bigger paychecks for the 
American people -- permanently," said Senate Majority Leader John Thune. "It 
will also help get our economy firing on all cylinders again."

   The Tax Policy Center, which provides nonpartisan analysis of tax and budget 
policy, projected the bill would result next year in a $150 tax break for the 
lowest quintile of Americans, a $1,750 tax cut for the middle quintile, and a 
$10,950 tax cut for the top quintile. That's compared to what they'd face if 
the 2017 tax cuts expired.