The House of Representatives passed again Wednesday afternoon H.R. 1, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, by a 224-201 vote, agreeing to changes the Senate made when it passed the tax cuts measure early Wednesday morning.
Republican lawmakers joined President Donald Trump for a celebration at the White House Wednesday afternoon. Published reports said that Trump may wait to sign the legislation into law until early January if Congress is unable to pass a separate provision waiving automatic spending cuts as part of a year-end spending deal to avoid a government shutdown before Friday.
Trump said at the White House gathering that tax reform "hasn't been done in 34 years … it's the largest tax cut in the history of our country."
The tax bill, Trump continued, means "3.2 trillion in tax cuts for Americans." He added that the reform package "is going to mean companies are going to be coming back. They're going to stay in our country."
Democratic lawmakers held their own press briefing an hour before the White House celebration in which they blasted the tax bill.
"Only two places are popping champagne: the White House and corporate boardrooms, including Trump Tower," said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., at the 2 p.m. Wednesday press briefing. "Otherwise, Americans have a lot to regret."
Responding to comments made by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., earlier in the day in which he said he "championed the open process" the Senate went through in passing the tax cuts bill, Schumer countered that could only be true if you define "open" as "one party negotiating behind closed doors, having one markup, having one expert witness while voting down every single amendment proposed by Democrats."
