House Republicans approved the most sweeping rewrite of the US tax code in a generationon Tuesday but immediately ran into trouble with Senate rules and will have to vote again on Wednesday.
The House passed the bill 227 to 203, with 12 Republicans voting against the plan and no Democrats supporting it. Final passage of the measure will mark the first major legislative success for Trump since taking office.
However, the bill will face a procedural hurdle forcing the House to vote on it again as two minor parts in the bill fell foul of the Senate’s parliamentary rules. Unless stripped, the bill would require 60 votes to pass in the Senate instead of a simple majority - and problem which would likely doom its chances of passage.
The Senate is still expected to vote on the legislation on Tuesday after stripping out the two offending provisions. One measure allows those using college savings plans towards the cost of home schooling. The other would exempt colleges with fewer than 500 students from being hit by a tax on college endowment. That provision only affects one school, Berea College in Kentucky. A third issue related to the legislation’s “short title”: “The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act”.
Despite the delay, Congress is still expected to send the bill to Trump in time to deliver what he has promised would be a “big, beautiful Christmas present” for the nation.
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