President Trump on Wednesday relished the huge win on tax cuts, saying the expected boost to the economy is the highlight of the “blessed season” and bowing his head with other Cabinet members in a prayer for the nation.
“We got it done,” Mr. Trump said at the White House, thanking Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan.
“Above all else, it’s a jobs bill. We have done a job like no other administration.”
The tax cut bill, which will reduce individual rates, boost the standard deduction and slash business rates, was headed for a final vote in the House as Mr. Trump spoke.
In a statement, Mr. Trump also said he had delivered on the “big, beautiful” tax cut that he promised taxpayers for Christmas.
“By cutting taxes and reforming the broken system, we are now pouring rocket fuel into the engine of our economy,” he said “America is back to winning again, and we’re growing like never before.”
The president also touted the legislation for repealing Obamacare’s individual mandate and opening Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Reserve (ANWR) to oil drilling.
He said that he didn’t want to make too big a deal of the Obamacare repeal or the ANWR drilling before the bill passed.
“When the individual mandate is being repealed that means Obamacare is being repealed,” he said. “We have essentially repealed Obamacare and we will come up with something much better.”
He crowed that his predecessors had tried for 40 years to start drilling in ANWR, the largest oil reserve in the world.
“ANWR by itself would be a massive bill,” said Mr. Trump. “ANWR is a big, big deal.”
At the president’s urging, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson led the Cabinet in prayer, all with heads bowed and hands clasped. He prayed prayed “that unity will spread even beyond party lines, so that people recognize that we have a nation that is worth saving, and recognize that nations divided against themselves do not stand.”
“In this time of discord, distrust and dishonesty, we ask that you would give us a spirit of gratitude, compassion and common sense [and wisdom] — in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,” Mr. Carson prayed.
He also thanked God for “the unity in Congress that presented an opportunity for our economy to expand so that we can fight the corrosive debt that has been destroying our future.”
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.