Trump Celebrates Legislative Win After Congress Passes $1.5 Trillion Tax Cut Bill

Congressional Republicans delivered on their first major legislative accomplishment of the Trump era on Wednesday, when the House voted 224-201 to pass a $1.5 trillion tax package. The bill cuts individual rates for eight years and slashes the top corporate tax rate to 21 percent permanently.

The bill now goes to Trump for his signature, though it's not clear when he will sign it. The president, Vice President Pence and lawmakers hailed the victory and thanked each other for their work on the bill's passage on the White House lawn on Wednesday afternoon.

"I promised the American people a big, beautiful tax cut for Christmas. With final passage of this legislation, that is exactly what they are getting," Trump said in a written statement earlier in the day. "I would like to thank the members of Congress who supported this historic bill, which represents an extraordinary victory for American families, workers, and businesses."

Republican lawmakers hoped to put the bill over the goal line a day earlier, after the House claimed victory in a 227-203 vote Tuesday afternoon, but hit a procedural hurdle. The Senate passed the bill with some slight tweaks in the early hours of Wednesday morning on a party-line vote, 51-48.

"This is a historic night," Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said after the vote.

People across income levels will see a tax cut of some sort under the bill, though most of the benefits will go to top earners. By February, federal income tax withholding is expected to be adjusted in paychecks, but for most people, the changes may not be apparent until April 2019 when 2018 taxes will be due for annual filers.

Individual tax rates are cut for eight years, though a future Congress could choose to extend them instead of allowing an effective tax increase to take place at the end of 2025. "We have no intention of allowing that to happen," Ryan, R-Wis., said to CBS This Morning on Wednesday.

Democrats have been unable to break GOP unity to stop the tax bill as they were able to over health care, though they have said they look forward to how it will play in the 2018 midterm elections as they argue it's a boon for the wealthy. - Read More, NPR

Trump Celebrates Legislative Win After Congress Passes $1.5 Trillion Tax Cut Bill