By Bo Erickson and Richard Cowan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives will try again on Thursday to pass a blueprint for President Donald Trump’s tax cuts, hoping to satisfy concerns from some lawmakers that it does not cut spending enough.
The package would cut taxes by about $5 trillion and add approximately $5.7 trillion to the federal government’s debt over the next decade.
A vote was scheduled for Thursday morning. House Speaker Mike Johnson had hoped to pass it on Wednesday, but postponed action when passage appeared uncertain in the chamber, which his Republicans control by a 220-213 majority.
Republicans have yet to settle on spending reductions that would accompany those tax cuts.
The legislation, which passed the Senate on Saturday, calls for a minimum of $4 billion in spending cuts. That is far less than a previous version approved by the House that mandates $1.5 trillion in cuts.
Senate Republicans say the $4 billion figure is simply a minimum that does not prevent Congress from passing much larger tax cuts in the months to come. But some hardline conservatives in the House say they are reluctant to vote for legislation that does not include a bigger target.
Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune tried to overcome those concerns in a Thursday news conference ahead of the vote.
“We are aligned with the House in terms of what their budget resolution outlined, in terms of savings,” Thune said. “The speaker’s talked about $1.5 trillion. We have a lot of United States senators who believe that is a minimum. And we’ll certainly do everything we can to be as aggressive as possible.”
Passage by the House would just be a first step, allowing Republicans to begin outlining the details of what taxes and spending programs will be cut.
Trump urged House Republicans to vote yes.
“Great News! “The Big, Beautiful Bill” is coming along really well. Republicans are working together nicely. Biggest Tax Cuts in USA History!!! Getting close,” he wrote on social media.
The bill would extend the 2017 tax cuts that were Trump’s primary first-term legislative achievement. He has also proposed additional cuts, such as eliminating taxes on overtime, tips and Social Security, that nonpartisan analysts say could drive the bill’s cost north of $11 trillion.
Congressional Republicans also intend to use the budget blueprint to raise the federal government’s debt ceiling, which they must do by sometime this summer or risk default on the nation’s $36.6 trillion in debt.
The intra-party fight comes amid chaos in financial markets set off by Trump’s imposition of tariffs on imported goods. Prospects of a shrinking U.S. economy as a result of a world trade war, as some economists have projected, spilled over into Congress’ budget debates because of the possibility of falling revenue in an economic downturn.
(Writing by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Scott Malone, Mark Porter and Alistair Bell)
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