Cheers erupted early Wednesday as Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee approved the measure.

GOP tax breaks bill

following an exhausting 24/7 session that tested

President Donald Trump’s

package past overwhelming

Democratic opposition

.

However, there’s still additional work remaining.


House Speaker Mike Johnson, Republican from Louisiana,

Also stayed up past midnight addressing problems related to Trump’s proposal. The opposition is growing among different segments of the Republican majority as he attempts to push the party’s key legislation through without securing any support from Democrats.

Democrats.

On one side, the conservative head of the Freedom Caucus criticizes the new proposal.

Medicaid work requirements

As a “joke” that doesn’t sufficiently address cost reduction. At the same time, several Republican legislators from New York and other areas with high taxes are declining to back the proposal until modifications are included to provide more substantial state and local tax breaks.

called SALT,

For the people they represent back home.

“Saying there’s merely a gap would be an understatement,” stated Representative Chip Roy, R-Texas, who leads the conservative faction.

Roy said there is “a significant number of us who could not bless this product” in its current form.

Nevertheless, momentum is building toward an end-of-the-week inflection point to stitch together the sprawling package Friday at the Budget Committee. 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.

Democrats decry the package as a give-away to the wealthy at the expense of safety net programs that millions of Americans rely on. But Johnson insists the Republican majority is on track to pass the package by Memorial Day, May 26, sending it to the Senate where Republicans are crafting their own version. With his slim majority, he can only afford a few defections from his ranks.

“Everything is still according to plan,” Johnson stated at the Capitol. “The American people are relying on us.”

Democrats also stayed up all night forcing marathon public hearings. One at the House Energy and Commerce Committee was still going more than 26 hours later before finishing Wednesday afternoon.

Later Wednesday evening, the House Agriculture Committee handling the food aid cuts wrapped up its work too, but only after the Republican chairman abruptly shut down debate on dozens of remaining amendments from Democrats.

All told, Democrats proposed hundreds of amendments trying to change the package, with dozens of votes that largely failed.

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

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

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.

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

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.

The majority of savings would be achieved by implementing stricter work demands for individuals obtaining healthcare and food support, which means less people would meet eligibility criteria. This bill proposes increasing the minimum working age from 54 to 64 years old for capable adults without dependents seeking SNAP qualifications. Additionally, certain mothers would need to engage in employment activities when their kids surpass seven years rather than eighteen under present rules. At this time, these beneficiaries are required to put in at least 80 hours per month either through job duties or participation in related programs.

The chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Representative Brett Guthrie from Kentucky, asserts that these modifications will “bolster and maintain” Medicaid for years to come, aligning with the ” commonsense” approaches President Donald Trump pledged to his supporters during campaigns.

However, Democrats shared numerous accounts of their constituents facing difficulties in obtaining healthcare. Representative Jimmy Gomez from California highlighted his personal battle with Type 2 diabetes during the House Ways and Means Committee hearing and discussed the financial stress caused by medical expenses.

One of the biggest challenges for Johnson has involved the more regional discussion around state and local taxes as he tries to craft a deal acceptable to lawmakers from states like New York, California, and New Jersey. These legislators have turned down a proposal to increase the deduction limit threefold, raising it from its current level of $10,000 to $30,000 for those filing jointly.

On Tuesday, the speaker had meetings with legislators, which carried over into Wednesday.

Rep. Nick LaLotta, R-N.Y., stated that although the discussion was polite, an agreement wasn’t reached. He commented later on Tuesday, “There was more noise than substance in that meeting.”

“The truth is, you require 218 votes to get a bill passed, and with the current structure of this bill, it won’t achieve that since it doesn’t properly address the SALT issue,” stated Representative Mike Lawler from New York.

The lawmakers believe they have leverage in the talks because without a deal, the $10,000 limit established under the 2017 tax bill expires at the end of the year and reverts to no cap at all.

But as Johnson and the lawmakers edge closer to a SALT deal, the conservatives are balking that their priorities must also be met.

Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., said he’s a no for now, but would be working to improve the bill so that he could support it.

The conservatives argue that the tax breaks without deeper spending cuts will pile onto the deficit, and they worry that the Medicaid reductions do not go far enough in rolling back federal funds to expand the Affordable Care Act. They also want the work requirements, which don’t take effect until Jan. 1, 2029, after Trump has left office, to start sooner.

“Fundamentally, Republicans are implementing Obamacare, which seems quite bizarre to me,” Burlison stated.

Republicans are hurriedly working to prolong Trump’s expiring tax cuts from last year and introduce new ones he promised during his 2024 campaign, such as eliminating taxes on tips and Social Security benefits among others.

A new analysis from the Joint Committee on Taxation shows that most tax filers would see a lower tax rates under the proposal, except those at the lowest rates, who earn less than $15,000 a year. Their average tax rate would go up.

___

Associated Press writers Matt Brown, Mary Clare Jalonick and Leah Askarinam contributed to this report.