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Johnson predicts success after meeting with Trump and

holdouts

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Bill would add $3.8 trillion to the U.S. debt

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Democrats argue bill favors wealthy, cuts social programs

(Updates with committee vote and expected floor votes)

By David Morgan and Bo Erickson

WASHINGTON, May 21 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald

Trump's massive tax and spending bill cleared an important

procedural hurdle in the Republican-controlled House of

Representatives on Wednesday, when a gatekeeper committee

approved the measure and set up a floor vote for passage to

occur within hours.

Republicans have been deeply divided over the bill, which

would extend Trump's signature 2017 tax cuts, create new breaks

for tipped income and auto loans, end many green-energy

subsidies and boost spending on the military and immigration

enforcement.

It would pay for those changes by tightening eligibility for

food and health programs that serve millions of low-income

Americans.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates the

bill will add $3.8 trillion to the U.S.'s $36.2 trillion in debt

over the next decade.

The House Rules Committee voted 8-4 to advance the bill late

on Wednesday after a marathon session that lasted nearly 22

hours. Republican leaders later scheduled two votes, one to

begin debate and a second to pass the bill, before sunrise on

Thursday.

House passage would set the stage for weeks of debate in the

Republican-led Senate.

A handful of party hardliners, angry that the bill did

not contain more spending cuts, met with Trump and House Speaker

Mike Johnson on Wednesday, a day after Trump's visit to the

Capitol failed to unify the narrow 220-212 majority.

Johnson expressed confidence that the bill would pass the

House.

"I believe we are going to land this airplane," he told

reporters.

REVISIONS

Representative Dusty Johnson, who leads the chamber's Main

Street Caucus, said he believed the speaker had reached a deal

that could pass the House.

"The speaker has been working with a broad cross section of

the conference," he told reporters. "We have every expectation,

the speaker has every expectation, that we will get there."

Credit rating firm Moody's last week stripped the U.S.

government of its top-tier credit rating, citing the nation's

growing debt. U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday amid investor

concern about the mounting debt.

The Medicaid health program for low-income households had

proved to be a major sticking point, with fiscal hawks pushing

for cuts to partly offset the cost of the bill's tax components,

which moderate Republicans say would hurt voters whose support

they will need in the 2026 midterm congressional elections.

The rules committee approved an overall amendment package

containing deals between Johnson and various Republican

factions.

The revisions included imposing work requirements for the

Medicaid program at the end of 2026, two years earlier than

previously planned. It also penalized states that expand

Medicaid in the future and raised the amount of state and local

taxes that can be deducted from federal income taxes.

The amendment package also exempted firearm silencers from

registration requirements under the National Firearms Act and

eliminated a $200 tax on the firearm accessories, changes

demanded by Representative Andrew Clyde of Georgia.

Democrats railed against the legislation.

"Republicans are kicking millions of Americans off their

healthcare and (food) benefits in order to finance tax cuts that

will help billionaires," said Representative Jim McGovern, the

top Democrat on the House Rules Committee.

"Cutting benefits means families will go hungry, farmers

will suffer and health care costs will go up," he said.

Trump visited Republican lawmakers at the Capitol on Tuesday

to try to persuade holdouts to get in line on what he calls a

"big, beautiful bill."

LITTLE WIGGLE ROOM

Johnson has little room for error on the House floor, as a

handful of Republican "no" votes could scuttle the bill.

Republican lawmakers have said they do not believe the

nonpartisan analysts' projections and accused Moody's of

deliberately timing its downgrade last Friday to try to block

the bill's passage.

Lawmakers must act to address the debt limit by this summer

or risk triggering a devastating default.

"Deficits aside, this bill is ugly because it is

ultimately a betrayal of the contract that we have made with the

American people, and especially to our babies and to our working

people," said Democratic Representative Gwen Moore.