Republicans swept to power on Election Day and now control the House, the Senate and the White House, with plans for an ambitious 100-day agenda come January.
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House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of N.Y., speaks during a news conference to introduce the Democratic House leadership for the next session of Congress on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Washington. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., center, speaks as House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., left, and Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., right, listen during a press conference on the steps of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, in Washington.
The GOP majority in Congress quickly pivoted to tax cuts, assembling and approving the multitrillion-dollar package by year’s end. That means keeping in place various tax brackets and a standardized deduction for individual earners, along with the existing rates for so-called pass-through entities such as law firms, doctors' offices or businesses that take their earnings as individual income.
Typically, lawmakers want the cost of a policy change to be offset by budget revenue or reductions elsewhere. But in this case, there's almost no agreed-upon revenue raisers or spending cuts in the annual $6 trillion budget that could cover such a whopping price tag. He said the criticism that tax cuts would add to the deficit is “ridiculous.” There is a difference between taxes and spending, he said,"and we just have to get that message out to America.”
The House Democratic leader, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, scoffed at the Republican claim that they've won “some big, massive mandate” — when in fact, the House Democrats and Republicans essentially fought to a draw in the November election, with the GOP eking out a narrow majority.
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