UPDATE | House OKs GOP tax bill in Trump win; Senate fate less clear

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans rammed a near $1.5 trillion package overhauling corporate and personal taxes through the House today, edging President Donald Trump and the GOP toward their first big legislative triumph in a year in which they and their voters expected much more.

The near party-line 227-205 vote came as Democrats on the other side of the Capitol pointed to new estimates showing the Senate version of the plan would boost future taxes on lower and middle-income Americans. Those projections, coupled with complaints by some GOP senators about their chamber's proposal, suggest party leaders still face a challenge in crafting a measure that can make it through Congress with little if any Democratic support.

House passage raised GOP hopes the president would be able to claim a big victory in a year highlighted so far by the Senate crash of the party's effort to repeal President Barack Obama's health care law. The first major tax rewrite in three decades has been a career-long goal of countless Republicans politicians, who tout the reductions as a boon to families, businesses and the entire economy.

"Passing this bill is the single biggest thing we can do to grow the economy, to restore opportunity and help those middle income families who are struggling," said House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis.

Democrats derided the measure as a scheme that would help the rich but do little for anyone else.

"Republicans have brought forth a bill that is pillaging the middle class to pad the pockets of the wealthiest and hand tax breaks to corporations shipping jobs out of America," declared House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California.

Both the House and Senate versions of the legislation would cut the 35 percent corporate tax rate to 20 percent, while reducing some personal taxpayers' rates and erasing and shrinking deductions for individuals. Projected federal deficits would grow by $1.5 trillion over the coming decade.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump urged House Republicans today to approve a near $1.5 trillion tax overhaul as the party prepared to drive the measure through the House.

Across the Capitol, Democrats pointed to new numbers showing the Senate version of the plan would boost taxes on lower and middle-income Americans.

"He told us that we have this once-in-a lifetime opportunity to do something really bold, and he reminded us that is why we seek these offices," Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., said of Trump's closed-door pep rally. "And here we are on the cusp of getting something really important done."

House passage seemed assured for the measure cutting the 35 percent corporate tax rate to 20 percent and reducing personal tax rates while erasing and shrinking some deductions. Projected federal deficits would grow by $1.5 trillion over the coming decade

But a similar plan approaching approval by the Senate Finance Committee encountered its latest obstacle, this time in the form of fresh projections from Congress' nonpartisan tax analysts.

The new numbers from Congress' Joint Committee on Taxation showed that beginning in 2021, many families earning under $30,000 annually would face higher taxes under the Senate package. By 2027, families making less than $75,000 would face tax boosts while those making more would enjoy lower levies.

Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, top Democrat on the Finance panel, said the new projections showed the tax bill was "just shameful" because middle-class families would "get hammered."

Republicans attributed the new figures to two Senate provisions. One would end the measure's personal tax cuts starting in 2026, a step GOP leaders took to contain the measure's costs.

The other would abolish the "Obamacare" requirement that people buy health coverage or pay tax penalties.

Eliminating those fines is expected to mean fewer people would obtain federally subsidized policies, and the tax analysts consider a reduction in those subsidies to count as a tax increase.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has projected that would result in 13 million more uninsured people by 2027, making the provision a political risk for some lawmakers.