President Donald Trump secured the biggest win of his presidency on Wednesday as Republicans passed the most sweeping US tax overhaul since the 1980s, stirring fierce partisan disagreement that is set to dominate electoral battles next year.
Mr Trump was a pen stroke away from fulfilling one of his central campaign pledges by signing a $1.5tn tax cut into law, after the House of Representatives passed the legislation on Wednesday afternoon, hours after the Senate approved it in a post-midnight vote.
The vote gives the president a longed-for legislative victory to carry into his second year, one whose scope matches the radical reforms of healthcare and Wall Street regulation achieved by his predecessor Barack Obama.
But the tax bill is already as divisive as Mr Obama’s achievements, ensuring 2018 will be dominated by electoral sparring over whether it will help middle-class families, as Republicans claim, or will deliver further riches to the wealthy and powerful, as Democrats say.
“I promised the American people a big, beautiful tax cut for Christmas,” Mr Trump said in a statement. “With final passage of this legislation, that is exactly what they are getting.” At a White House event to celebrate the tax overhaul, he said: “It’s always a lot of fun when you win. If you work hard and lose, that’s not acceptable.” It was unclear when he would formally sign the bill into law.
Republicans say their package, the most substantial since Ronald Reagan’s reforms of 1986, is vital to energising the US economy and they view it as crucial to their chances of keeping control of Congress in midterm elections next November.
According to a CNN poll this week, however, some 55 per cent of voters opposed the plan, up 10 points from early November, while 33 per cent favoured it.
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Trump tax victory sets up 2018 electoral battle
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