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House passes GOP tax bill, goes to vote in Senate

The House of Representatives approved the final version of the first overhaul of the US tax code in more than 30 years, handing President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans their most significant legislative victory of 2017.

The Senate is expected to clear the bill later Tuesday, with Vice President Mike Pence presiding over the vote. The measure then heads to the President’s desk for his signature before the Christmas holiday, making good on the Republican Party’s promise to enact tax relief by the end of the year.

Speaking before the vote, House Speaker Paul Ryan called it “a day I’ve been looking forward to for a long time.” After temporarily getting interrupted by a woman in the House gallery calling him a liar, the Wisconsin Republican went on to describe what he called the benefits of the policies.

“Economic growth and job creation will not solve all of our problems, but it will help make all of our problems much easier to solve,” he said on the House floor.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi — speaking before Ryan — called the bill a “brazen con job” and “moral obscenity” that showed “unrepentant greed.”