by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
House Speaker Paul Ryan
Washington : The US Congress has unveiled a massive bipartisan $1.3 trillion spending package that will keep the government funded until the end of September and has President Donald Trump’s support, the media reported.
But it was not immediately clear whether the proposal will pass Congress in time to avert a government shutdown on Friday at midnight, reports CNN.
Lawmakers on Wednesday night agreed on funding levels for every corner of the government with $700 billion budgeted for defence and $591 billion slated for non-defence spending, but the legislation also include policy riders like a bill that incentivizes state and federal authorities to report more data to the country’s gun background check system called “Fix NICS”.
The rush now was to move the legislation as quickly as possible.
Lawmakers have until Friday at midnight to pass the bill before the government runs out of money.
The House is expected to vote on the plan later this week but the main obstacle will be whether the Senate can move fast enough to avert a shutdown given its rules.
If one lawmaker objects, it could force Senate leaders to run out the clock and even face a temporary shutdown into the weekend, reports CNN.
House Speaker Paul Ryan said that while “no bill this size is perfect”, this one strengthens the country.
“No bill of this size is perfect… And we must reform our broken budget process to return to a regular appropriations process. But this legislation addresses important priorities and makes us stronger at home and abroad,” Ryan said early Thursday morning.
The spending package includes additional money that could be used to fund a controversial New York and New Jersey infrastructure project.
It also contains the Taylor Force Act, which would cut off US aid to the Palestinian Authority until the government there ceases payments to families of terrorists.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
Paul Ryan
Washington : The House of Representatives will re-vote on Wednesday on the Republicans’ tax bill, though the legislation is still expected to pass both chambers in Congress and be on President Donald Trump’s desk in the next 24 hours, the media reported.
A version of the bill passed along sharp partisan lines, 227-203, with 12 House Republican members opposing the legislation, and no Democrats voting for it, earlier on Tuesday, reports CNN.
But shortly after debate started in the Senate, the House Majority Leader’s office advised its conference to be prepared to vote on Wednesday citing Senate rules that would likely strip out certain parts of the final bill in order to pass with a simple majority.
The Senate is expected to clear the bill later by early Wednesday morning, with Vice President Mike Pence presiding over the vote.
After the bill clears the House, the measure will then head to the President’s desk for his signature before the Christmas holiday.
As House Republicans prepared to vote on the tax bill the first time, Speaker Paul Ryan was seated next to the conservative House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows, a North Carolina Republican.
The two men went head to head at certain points on health care and spending bills, but on tax reform, the House Freedom Caucus has worked hand in glove with leadership.
Ryan spoke from the floor and said that this vote on the tax bill is a “generational defining moment”.
“This is without question the single most important thing we can do to once again make America the best place to do business,” Ryan said.
Meanwhile, protesters were repeatedly removed from the chamber for shouting “kill the bill, don’t kill us”, in the minute before the House vote.
The plan, which critics say is heavily weighted to ease the tax burden of businesses rather than the middle class, drops the corporate tax rate down from 35 to 21 per cent, repeals the corporate alternative minimum tax, nearly doubles the standard deduction for individuals and restructures the way pass-through businesses are taxed, reports CNN.
The bill keeps seven personal income tax brackets, and lowers that tax rates for most brackets, including dropping the top rate to 37 from 39.6 per cent.
It would also reduce tax breaks important to states and cities with higher taxes by placing a $10,000 cap on the deduction for state and local and taxes.
The bill would also repeal ObamaCare’s individual mandate and open up a section of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for drilling.
—IANS
