Republican leaders in the House are sprinting toward a Thursday vote on President Donald Trump’s tax and spending cuts package, determined to seize momentum from a hard-fought vote in the Senate while essentially daring members to defy their party’s leader and vote against it. It’s a risky gambit designed to meet Trump’s demand for a July 4 finish.
The roughly 900-page megabill that would extend the 2017 tax cuts and increase the federal deficit by $3 trillion must win final approval from the House, which passed its version by only one vote in May. Vice President JD Vance broke a 50-50 tie in the Senate to pass the bill Tuesday, with opposition from Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Thom Tillis of North Carolina.
“I strongly support extending the tax relief for families and small businesses. My vote against this bill stems primarily from the harmful impact it will have on Medicaid, affecting low-income families and rural health care providers like our hospitals and nursing homes,” Collins said following Tuesday’s vote.
If passed, the bill could deal a devastating blow to Maine hospitals. Recent studies found the Medicaid cuts could put hospitals in Calais, Presque Isle, Caribou and Ellsworth among more than 300 rural hospitals nationally at risk of closing.
The Associated Press and BDN Reporters Billy Kobin and Michael Shepherd contributed to this report.
