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Tax reform bill clears Senate
Vote provides needed boost for Trump, GOP
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Telling reporters "we have the votes," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., walks to the chamber after a closed-door meeting with Republican lawmakers to advance the GOP overhaul of the tax code, on Capitol Hill in Washington Friday. - photo by Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Republicans muscled the largest tax overhaul in 30 years through the Senate early Saturday, taking a big step toward giving President Donald Trump his first major legislative triumph after months of false starts and frustration on other fronts."Just what the country needs to get growing again," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in an interview after a final burst of negotiation closed in on a nearly $1.5 trillion package that impacts the breadth of American society.He shrugged off polls finding scant public enthusiasm for the measure, saying the legislation would prove its worth. "Big bills are rarely popular," he said. "You remember how unpopular 'Obamacare' was when it passed?"Trump on Saturday tweeted his thanks to Senate and House Republicans as they now begin trying to reconcile differences in legislation passed by both chambers, a behind-closed-doors process that is expected to move swiftly.
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