The GOP-led House passed its "one, big, beautiful bill" after "some small changes and tweaks," Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, told Newsmax Congressional Correspondent Kilmeny Duchardt on Thursday morning.
House Republicans stayed up all night to pass their multitrillion-dollar tax breaks package, with Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., defying the skeptics and unifying his ranks to muscle President Donald Trump's priority bill to approval.
The passage came hours after some of the chamber's conservatives said they remained opposed to the legislation.
Duchardt asked Pfluger what did it take to pass the bill.
"You know, really, it was small changes and tweaks," he said on Newsmax's "Wake Up America." "Let's go back four or five months ago when I think Republicans had to understand and get our arms around the fact that we need to save some money, that a trillion and a half dollars in savings was the target. And we really, as chairman of the Republican Study Committee, pushed leadership in that direction.
"That $37 trillion in debt, we cannot sustain that. But we also know that we need to extend tax cuts to make sure that our American working families can succeed, and they can put more money into their pockets. Had we not passed this, you're talking $2,500 a year, additional tax money that would not have gone into their pockets, that would have gone to the government. That's what was at stake here."
The legislation now moves to the Senate, which likely will make changes.
"Certainly, they're going to want to do some changes, but I think the important thing for the Senate is look how hard we've worked on this," Pfluger told Duchardt. "It's not just five months. It's been over a year that we've been crafting this bill.
"And I would urge them [senators] to really make minor, minor changes that the spirit of this bill needs to stay intact. Because we have worked hard. We have threaded a very, very narrow window here to get this done with all the different factions of the Republican Conference. So, it's important that we keep the spirit of this bill intact."
Pfluger explained to Duchardt what the bill accomplishes.
"It's historic," he said. "First and foremost, It unleashes the economy. It extends the tax cuts that President Trump had in 2017. We're saving money, garnering savings to cut fraud, waste, and abuse, unleash American energy, secure the border. I mean, every promise that President Trump made is being delivered on in this bill. And that's what I think is so special about it."
Pfluger added that "the key here is that we came together because we know that we need to get America on a different path, on a different course, and undo just the last four years."
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Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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