Donald Trump won the first major legislative victory for his second term on Thursday after the adoption in forceps by the US Congress of a large budgetary bill, a keystone of his economic program.
After the Senate, which had approved it narrowly on Tuesday, the House of Representatives adopted this text of 869 pages baptized “large and beautiful law” definitively by the president himself, again after a tight vote, preceded by multiple pressures and negotiations.
“Victory”, immediately reacted the White House in a message on X.
Initially scheduled for Wednesday, the final vote did not take place until Thursday in early afternoon in Washington. It was held after a speech of almost nine hours – a record in the House of Representatives – of the leader of elected Democrats, Hakeem Jeffries, who tried to postpone the vote as much as possible.
The displayed opposition of several conservative elected officials – which denounced the digging of the public debt expected with this legislation – had previously forced republican officials to delay it.
With a majority of only eight seats, the presidential party could not afford more than three defections in its own camp.
Only two Republicans finally voted “against”, the culmination of behind the scenes negotiations by the president of the House of Representatives, the Republican Mike Johnson, with the help of the White House tenant.
– Phone –
Earlier, Donald Trump started raising the tone.
“What are the Republicans waiting for ??? What are you trying to prove ???”, he launched on his social social platform shortly after midnight.
“Maga is not happy, and it costs you voices,” added the storm of the 79 -year -old president in capital letters, in reference to her movement “Make America Great Again”.
He spoke on the phone to recalcitrant Republicans until late at night to convince them, according to Mike Johnson.
For several weeks, the President has been pressing the Congress to adopt his “One Big Beautiful Bill” before Friday, the day of the national holiday, which he set as a symbolic deadline for the promulgation of this law.
It provides for the extension of colossal tax credits adopted during the republican first mandate, the elimination of taxation on tips, a flagship promise of its campaign, as well as additional billions of dollars for defense and the fight against immigration.
According to independent analyzes, the main beneficiaries will however be the wealthiest households, while millions of Americans with modest income could lose their access to public health insurance or food assistance programs.
– “slow down our debt” –
Experts and politicians also point out the expected explosion of the public deficit.
The Congress’s budget office, responsible for non -supported the impact of public finance bills, said Tuesday that the text would increase debt by more than $ 3.400 billion by 2034.
“I came to Washington to help brake our national debt,” said Keith Self, an elected representative in the House, to justify having voted “no” during the procedural vote, which took place in the night.
The elected Texan accused his colleagues from the Senate of having “trampled” the version previously adopted in the room, before adding that in the end it was for him “a question of morality”.
Like several other colleagues, he finally changed his vote into “for” a few hours later.
To partially compensate for the widening of the deficit, the Republicans plan to slash in Medicaid, a public health insurance program on which millions of Americans depend on low incomes.
A drastic reduction in the SNAP program, the main food aid in the country, is also planned, as well as the abolition of numerous tax incentives for the renewable energies adopted under Joe Biden.
Unsurprisingly, the Democrats oppose the text as a whole.
For Hakeem Jeffries, this law is a “repugnant monstrosity” which “will make ordinary Americans suffer” in favor of the richest.
Posted on July 3 at 8:41 p.m. AFP
