House Republicans pull an all-nighter on Trump’s tax bill. There’s more work to do

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Cheers broke out early Wednesday as Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee signed off on the GOP tax breaks bill after a grueling round-the-clock session that pushed President Donald Trump’s package past overwhelming Democratic opposition.

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But there’s still more work to do.

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House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., also worked past midnight trying to resolve issues with Trump’s plan. Opposition is mounting from various corners of the GOP majority as he tries to muscle the party’s signature package to passage without any votes from Democrats.

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On the one hand, the conservative leader of the Freedom Caucus derides the new Medicaid work requirements as a “joke” that do not go far enough at cost-cutting. Meanwhile, a handful of GOP lawmakers from New York and other high-tax states are refusing to support the measure unless changes are made to give deeper state and local tax deductions, called SALT, for their constituents back home.

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“We’re still on target,” Johnson said at the Capitol, insisting he was on track to pass the package by Memorial Day, May 26. “The American people are counting on us.”

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Momentum is building toward an end-of-the-week session to stitch together the sprawling package. That means combining hundreds of pages of bill text covering $5 trillion in tax breaks and at least $1.5 trillion in spending reductions on Medicaid, food stamps and green energy programs to deliver Trump’s second-term legislative priority. A House vote is expected next week, which would send the legislation to the Senate.

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But it’s not at all certain Johnson can get the package to passage. With his slim majority, he can only afford a few defections from his ranks. Members have yet to fall line.

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Democrats also stayed up all night in the marathon public hearings — one at the House Energy and Commerce Committee was still going almost 24 hours later. They decried what they argued are tax breaks that flow to the wealthy at the expense of health care, food programs and investments in renewable energy to fight climate change.

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“It is a cruel, mean, rotten bill,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., as the House Agriculture Committee debated changes to the Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program, known as SNAP.

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The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said at least 7.6 million fewer people would have health insurance with the changes to Medicaid, and possibly more with additional changes to the Affordable Care Act.

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The CBO also gave lawmakers a preliminary analysis showing that 3 million fewer people each month would participate in the SNAP food program under the changes proposed.

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More than 70 million Americans rely on Medicaid for health care, and about 40 million use SNAP.

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The Republicans are targeting Medicaid and SNAP for a combined $1 trillion in cuts as a way to offset the costs of the tax package, but also to achieve GOP goals of reining in the social safety net programs.