WASHINGTON — House Republican leaders are moving forward with trying to pass President Donald Trump’s ambitious policy package, with a final vote as soon as the wee hours of Thursday.
Republicans released their final amendments to the massive tax cut proposal on Wednesday night, just ahead of the House Rules Committee wrapping up a nearly 22-hour hearing to hash out the final contours of the bill. Dozens of Democrats appeared before the committee to present hundreds of amendments of their own, dragging out the hearing’s process by hours. The GOP-led panel rejected all of their amendments.
Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), the chair of the committee, said after the hearing that she expected the House to vote late Wednesday on the rule for the GOP’s tax package and that “there is a chance we’ll do the bill tonight.”
House Republican leaders later alerted lawmakers to their schedule for the coming hours: begin debate on the bill around 2:15 a.m. Thursday, vote on final passage between 4:30 and 5:30 a.m., and plan to walk off the floor by 6 a.m.
Democrats were already thwarting the plan by 11:15 p.m. Wednesday, though. As soon as Republicans tried to begin House debate on the rule, Democrats forced a vote on adjourning the chamber, an effort to drag out the clock.
