U.S. President Donald Trump has pushed for a tax cut legislation that has now passed through the federal House Budget Committee and has entered the voting procedure in the main session. With some hardline Republican lawmakers abstaining, the bill barely cleared the first hurdle, and there are expectations that a vote in the main session could take place as soon as this week.
According to Reuters and other foreign news, the House Budget Committee voted on the bill on the 18th (local time), passing it with 17 votes in favor and 16 against. Earlier, four hardline Republican lawmakers had expressed dissatisfaction with the cuts and voted against the measure, but they changed their stance to abstention on that day.
They have opposed the cuts, demanding additional reductions in government expenditures such as the Medicaid program for low-income individuals, and some emphasized the need for negotiations even after the vote. Representative Chip Roy (Republican-Texas) noted, "There has been progress over the weekend, but it is not enough," while Representative Ralph Norman (Republican-South Carolina) stated, "Negotiations are ongoing regarding changes to Medicaid work requirements."
The bill is expected to go through the House Rules Committee before being presented in the main session. House Speaker Mike Johnson (Republican-Louisiana) is pushing for a vote in the main session this week to pass the bill before Memorial Day on the 26th, as reported by Reuters.
The bill includes provisions to extend the key provisions of the tax cut law established in 2017. Major components include reductions in individual income tax rates and the corporate tax maximum rate, as well as expansions of the standard deduction and the child tax credit. These provisions were set to expire at the end of this year.
In addition, it includes measures such as the tax exemption on tips and overtime pay that Trump promoted as part of his presidential campaign, as well as the creation of a tax credit for interest on loans for purchasing American-made cars. Conversely, it also contains proposals for cuts to social welfare expenditures, such as Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and food stamps, along with some revenue-generating measures.
Experts predict that if the bill passes, the U.S. national liability will increase by $3 trillion (approximately 4,000 trillion won) over the next decade. Currently, the U.S. national liability stands at $36.2 trillion (approximately 512,000 trillion won).
Earlier, on the 16th, international credit rating agency Moody's downgraded the U.S. credit rating from 'Aaa' to 'Aa1,' citing the increase in federal government liabilities and the decrease in fiscal revenues resulting from tax cut policies as background.