Republicans celebrated their first legislative win of the year Wednesday, after both houses of Congress passed a sweeping tax reform package.
But one Democratic congresswoman told Cheddar there’s still hope for constituents who remain opposed to the bill.
“Stay mobilized, let your voice be heard,” Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) said Wednesday morning, after the Senate voted, but before the House reconvened. “Nothing is permanent but death and taxes, and we can do something about these taxes and we can do something about the makeup of this Congress.”
The president and his party leaders gathered Wednesday afternoon to praise the benefits of the tax system overhaul, which drops the corporate tax rate from 35 to 21 percent, nearly doubles the standard deduction for individuals, and lowers the tax rate for most income brackets.
While the GOP says the long-overdue changes will provide a boost to the economy, Democrats dispute that claim and say the bill will largely benefit the wealthiest Americans and balloon the deficit.
The bill does appear to be broadly unpopular. A recent CNN poll found that 55 percent of respondents opposed the legislation, a 10 percentage point increase since last month. Still, it passed the House by a vote of 224-201 Wednesday afternoon, with only 12 Republican naysayers.
Republicans also took to Twitter to cheer the victory. President Donald Trump posted a gif that read “Tax Cut for Christmas”.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/rep-bonnie-watson-coleman-d-nj-says-voters-can-change-the-makeup-of-congress-in-2018).
President Joe Biden’s son Hunter will plead guilty to federal tax offenses and avoid prosecution on a separate gun charge in a deal with the Justice Department that likely spares him time behind bars.
A White House official said First lady Jill Biden is hosting a roundtable conversation on Tuesday that will bring together women who have been denied medical care since the overturning of Roe v. Wade last year.
Former president Donald Trump told Fox News' Bret Baier said on Monday that he did not show classified documents to anyone else after his term.
President Joe Biden will convene a group of technology leaders on Tuesday to debate artificial intelligence.
More than 1 million people have been dropped from Medicaid in the past couple of months as some states moved swiftly to halt healthcare coverage following the end of the coronavirus pandemic.
Thousands of Iraqis, many of whom risked their lives by working closely with Americans during the war and its aftermath, are trying to enter the U.S.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met on Monday with Chinese President Xi Jinping and said they agreed to “stabilize” badly deteriorated U.S.-China ties, but America’s top diplomat left Beijing with his biggest ask rebuffed: better communications between their militaries.
The Massachusetts Air National Guardsman accused of leaking highly classified military documents has been indicted on federal felony charges, the Justice Department said Thursday.
President Joe Biden highlighted progress in chipping away at so-called junk fees as a “win for consumers” Thursday, as he met at the White House with executives from Live Nation, Airbnb and other companies that have taken steps to embrace more transparent pricing.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott sent a busload of migrants to downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday, prompting Mayor Karen Bass to respond to Abbott's move as a "despicable stunt."
