(SRN NEWS/REUTERS/97.5 GLORY FM) – President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax-cut bill, stalled for days by Republican infighting over spending cuts, won approval from a key congressional committee on Sunday to advance toward possible passage in the House of Representatives later this week.
The action was a big win for Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson, after hardline Republican conservatives – including 9th District Rep. Andrew Clyde – on Friday blocked the bill from clearing the House Budget Committee over a dispute involving spending cuts to the Medicaid healthcare program for lower-income Americans and the repeal of green energy tax credits.
Clyde and the other three hardline members of the committee’s 21 Republicans allowed the legislation to advance by voting “present” in a rare Sunday night session. The bill passed in a 17-16 vote, with all Democrats voting against it.
The hardliners had spent much of the day in closed-door negotiations with House Republican leaders and White House officials.
“In an effort to advance President Trump’s agenda, I voted “Present” during tonight’s Budget Committee markup to allow the legislation to move forward as we continue to improve it,” Clyde (R-Jackson County), wrote on X. “We’ve made progress in negotiations, including moving work requirements for Medicaid forward, restricting future Green New Scam subsidies, and eliminating both the taxation and registration of suppressors under the NFA. Yet there’s still additional important work to be done to include as many America First priorities in President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill as possible.”
Clyde said he’s fighting for “key conservative wins – including reducing deficit spending, fixing Medicaid to prioritize vulnerable Americans, slashing more Green New Scam subsidies, and restoring additional 2A (2nd Amendment) constitutional rights.”
Nonpartisan analysts say the bill, which would extend the 2017 tax cuts that were Trump’s signature first-term legislative win, would add $3 trillion to $5 trillion to the nation’s $36.2 trillion in debt over the next decade. Moody’s cited the rising debt, which it said was on track to reach 134% of GDP by 2035, for its decision on Friday to downgrade the U.S. credit rating.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent dismissed the cut’s significance in a pair of Sunday television interviews, saying the bill would spur economic growth that would outpace what the nation owed.
“I don’t put much credence in the Moody’s” downgrade, Bessent told CNN’s “State of the Union” program, echoing White House criticism.