House approves budget resolution, which facilitates tax reform
WASHINGTON – The House of Representatives on Thursday approved the GOP-backed FY 2018 budget resolution, which Republicans are using as a vehicle to enact tax reform legislation.
The lower chamber approved the measure in a 219-206 vote.
No Democrats voted for the resolution. Eighteen Republicans jumped ship and voted against the measure.
The $4.1 trillion budget resolution proposes $1.5 trillion in tax cuts.
Democrats are claiming that the tax cuts will disproportionately benefit the wealthy and increase the deficit by more than $2 trillion.
The budget resolution includes reconciliation instructions so as to enable the Senate to approve tax reform legislation with a simple majority as opposed to 60 votes.
Reconciliation lowers the threshold for breaking a filibuster.
The Senate Budget Committee is continuing its markup of the resolution on Thursday and is expected to vote on the measure following next week’s recess.
This article is republished with permission from Talk Media News
Bryan is an award-winning political journalist who has extensive experience covering Congress and Maryland state government.
His work includes coverage of the election of Donald Trump, the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and attorneys general William Barr and Jeff Sessions-as well as that of the Maryland General Assembly, Gov. Larry Hogan, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bryan has broken stories involving athletic and sexual assault scandals with the Baltimore Post-Examiner.
His original UMBC investigation gained international attention, was featured in People Magazine and he was interviewed by ABC’s “Good Morning America” and local radio stations. Bryan broke subsequent stories documenting UMBC’s omission of a sexual assault on their daily crime log and a federal investigation related to the university’s handling of an alleged sexual assault.