Trump's 'big beautiful bill' on tax cuts gets US House committee approval

The vote comes after days of internal fighting amongst the Republicans and has now set the stage for a floor vote in the full House on Thursday (local time)

US House Committee on Wednesday (local time) cleared President Donald Trump's sweeping tax cut and spending bill, Reuters reported.

 

The vote comes after House committees have laboured for months on the legislation and goes for a full House vote early Thursday (local time). 

 

Trump's big, beautiful bill

 

Trump's big beautiful bill is a 1,000-plus page legislation that calls for roughly $3.8 trillion in tax cuts, most of which would come by extending many of the tax cuts announced by Trump during his first presidency in 2017. To offset the lost revenue partially, Republicans have proposed phasing out or repealing the clean energy tax credits, passed during Joe Biden's presidency.

 

 

It includes a temporary boost in the standard deduction, a $1,000 increase for individuals, bringing it to $16,000 for individual filers, and a $2,000 benefit for joint filers, bringing it to $32,000. The report suggests that the deduction will help in reducing the amount of income that is subject to income tax. 

 

The bill also aims to increase the child tax credit temporarily by $500, bringing it to $2,500 for 2025 till 2028.  

 

The estate tax exemption will be increased to $15 million and will be adjusted for inflation. It is worth noting that several of the provisions will be temporary, meaning that they will last only till the end of his term. 

 

House Republicans will also cut the spending on food aid by about $267 billion over the next decade, and are expanding the work requirements to be able to receive food aid, known as the Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program. Currently, able-bodied adults without any dependents are required to fulfill work requirements till they are 54; however, under the bill, it would be changed to 64.  

 

The bill also brings in new work requirements for Medicaid, which is likely to see a cut of $880 billion. Report suggests that to become eligible for Medicaid, new "community engagement requirements" of at least 80 hours per month of work, education or service for able-bodied adults without dependents will have to be fulfilled.

 

The passing of this bill is crucial for Trump to further his agenda during the second term of his presidency, and would imply a big political victory for the US President. He further hopes to improve his approval rating, which currently stands at 47.3 per cent, the report added, citing polling data.