Trump signs tax bill, predicts "tremendous Democrat support" on infrastructure
President Trump celebrated the first major legislative victory of his presidency Friday before heading to Florida for the holidays by signing into law the $1.5 trillion tax overhaul. He rushed the signing of the bill without a major ceremony because he wanted to keep his promise to sign it by Christmas. He also signed a short-term fix to keep the government running for another month, which sets up a major spending fight in January, reports CBS News correspondent Chip Reid.
Signing a hard-fought bill into law in what may be the most sweeping tax overhaul in a generation and assuring Americans that they will begin to see their taxes go down starting in February.
Most Americans will see their taxes drop temporarily, but the biggest benefits will go to corporations, whose cuts are permanent. The new law also includes a repeal of Obamacare's individual mandate.
President Trump later tweeted: "…the most hated part of ObamaCare is the individual mandate, which is being terminated under our just signed Tax Cut bill."
That sentiment was echoed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
"I'd love to see other changes and we're going to be moving the bills that have enough votes to pass," McConnell said.
Next on the president's legislative agenda is infrastructure. Mr. Trump believes a bill can get done with bipartisan support.
"Infrastructure is by far the easiest. People want it – Republicans and Democrats. We're going to have tremendous Democrat support on infrastructure as you know. I could've started with infrastructure — I actually wanted to save the easy one for the one down the road. So we'll be having that done pretty quickly," Mr. Trump said.
But the president simply cannot pass an infrastructure bill without the help of Democrats who will want to cut a deal on immigration first. The president will meet with congressional leaders in January to discuss legislative priorities for 2018.