The legislation passed with support from all but thirteen Republicans and no Democrats, and now faces significant challenges in the Senate

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

House Republicans passed major tax cut legislation on Thursday after a closed-door speech on Capitol Hill from Donald Trump.

The bill, which would slash corporate taxes from 35% to 20% and also reduce individual rates, passed by a margin of 227 to 205, with support from all but 13 Republicans and no Democrats.

GOP dissenters have been particularly concerned about provisions that almost totally eliminate the deduction for state and local taxes, a major issue for Republicans from states such as New York and New Jersey.

They included senior Republicans like Rodney Frelinghuysen, who chairs the appropriations committee but represents a suburban swing district in New Jersey, and Darrell Issa of California, the former chair of the government oversight and reform committee who only won re-election by 1,600 votes in 2016.

Speaker Paul Ryan, who has long prioritized tax reform, hailed the passage of the bill. “We put America in the driver’s seat in the global economy once again.” The Wisconsin Republican had prioritized the bill, which he claimed would save an average middle class family $1,182 a year in taxes.

Donald Trump hailed the bill’s passage on Twitter. He wrote: “Congratulations to the House of Representatives for passing the #TaxCutsandJobsAct – a big step toward fulfilling our promise to deliver historic TAX CUTS for the American people by the end of the year!”

With the legislation’s passage, debate now moves on to the Senate, which is considering a significantly different version of the bill, which would end the individual mandate to buy healthcare.

A non-partisan analysis has said this would result in tax increases on Americans making between $10,000 and $75,000 over the next decade. However, Republicans have strenuously disagreed with this analysis.

“Anyone who says we’re hiking taxes on low-income families is misstating the facts,” said Utah senator Orrin Hatch, lead author of the bill. “Obviously we have no intention of raising taxes on those families. Every Republican on this committee has been committed to providing tax cuts for every income cohort.”



The legislation faces significant challenges in the Senate.

Senate Republicans aim to end Obamacare mandate amid tax cuts Read more

One conservative, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, announced on Wednesday that he could not support the legislation as is because of how it treats certain businesses called “pass-through entities”.

Other Republicans have been skeptical for other reasons. Susan Collins of Maine – whose opposition helped sink Republican repeal of Obamacare – opposes the provision to completely eliminate the estate tax and has suggested including the removal of the Obamacare individual mandate is a mistake, while Bob Corker of Tennessee, a frequent critic of Trump’s, has been skeptical of the plan’s effect on the deficit.

Estimates say the bill would increase the deficit by $1.5tn over the next decade.

Holding a slim 52-48 majority, Republicans currently can only afford to lose two senators for the Senate tax cut proposal to be passed.