The Latest: House GOP passes budget, will start tax debate
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on the GOP budget plan in the House (all times local):
11:20 a.m.
President Donald Trump is praising the passage of a $4 trillion Republican budget in the House of Representatives.
Trump says on Twitter Thursday: "Big news - Budget just passed!"
The House narrowly passed a budget in a 216-212 vote. The move is a major step forward for the GOP tax overhaul effort, which is the president's top legislative priority.
The vote will let the tax cut move through Congress without fear of blocking tactics by Democrats
Trump and Republican lawmakers argue that a rewrite of the tax code will jump-start the economy.
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11 a.m.
The House has narrowly passed a $4 trillion budget that clears a key hurdle toward President Donald Trump's goal of cutting taxes.
The 216-212 vote allows Republicans to begin work on a $1.5 trillion tax cut and move it through Congress without fear of blocking tactics by Democrats. The tax bill is the top item on the GOP agenda and would be Trump's first major win in Congress.
GOP leaders overcame opposition from House conservatives unhappy about deficits and debt and lawmakers from high-tax states such as New York and New Jersey, who are upset about plans to curb the state and local tax deduction.
The Senate passed the measure last week and the House endorsed it without changes to move quickly to the tax measure.
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3:13 a.m.
House Republicans are focusing squarely on tax cuts rather than deficit discipline as they look to shoehorn a GOP budget plan through the House.
Passage of the $4 trillion measure would pave the way for Republicans controlling Washington to pass a 10-year, $1.5 trillion tax cut measure later this year.
But GOP leaders were scrambling to overcome pockets of resistance to the measure from hard-right Republicans unhappy about deficits and lawmakers from New York and New Jersey who fear the subsequent tax bill would take away a deduction for state and local taxes that's especially valuable to their constituents.
Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady says he'll schedule a panel debate and vote once the budget plan is safely passed.
The Senate passed the measure last week.