Flanked by Republican legislators and members of his Cabinet, Trump signed the multitrillion-dollar legislation outside the White House and then banged down the gavel that House Speaker Mike Johnson gifted him that was used during the bill’s final passage Thursday.
Against odds that at times seemed improbable, Trump achieved his goal of celebrating a historic — and divisive — legislative victory in time for the nation’s birthday. Fighter jets and a stealth bomber streaked through the sky over the annual White House Fourth of July picnic as Trump and first lady Melania Trump stepped out onto the White House balcony.
“America’s winning, winning, winning like never before,” Trump said, noting last month’s bombing campaign against Iran’s nuclear program, which he said the flyover was meant to honor. “Promises made, promises kept and we’ve kept them.”
“I never thought that I’d be on the House floor saying that this is a crime scene,” Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said during a record-breaking speech that delayed the bill’s passage by eight-plus hours. “It’s a crime scene, going after the health, and the safety, and the well-being of the American people.”
The legislation extends Trump’s 2017 multitrillion-dollar tax cuts and cuts Medicaid and food stamps by $1.2 trillion. It provides for a massive increase in immigration enforcement. Congress’ nonpartisan scorekeeper projects that nearly 12 million more people will lose health insurance under the law.
The legislation passed the House on a largely party-line vote Thursday,
Source: AP
