President Donald Trump signed the Republican tax plan — which would steeply and permanently reduce taxes for corporations, while temporarily cutting taxes for many individuals — into law Friday morning, two days after it finished its path through Congress.

Trump signed the legislation, along with a bill avoiding a government shutdown, without much in the way of celebratory fireworks from the Oval Office before leaving Washington, DC, for Florida.

"We were going to wait until Jan. 7 or 8 and do a big formal ceremony," Trump said before signing the tax bill, "but every one of the networks were saying 'Will he keep his promise?' and 'Will he sign it before Christmas?' And so I immediately called and said let's get it ready." He added that New England Patriots owner and billionaire Bob Kraft called him Thursday night "and said the tax bill is incredible."



"Corporations are literally going wild over this," he later added.



The law, released publicly just last Friday, is the end result of rapid action in Congress over the last month and makes big changes across the tax code.



The plan — which maintains the same number of income tax brackets as under current law but adjusts their parameters — cuts individual tax rates, including slashing the top rate for the highest earners from 39.6% to 37% and shifting the top bracket up slightly to income over $600,000 for people filing jointly or $500,000 for single filers. The law also nearly doubles the standard deduction to $12,000 for single filers and $24,000 for joint filers, while suspending the $4,050 personal exemption that can now be used for the filer, his or her spouse, and any dependents. Those changes, however, expire at the end of 2025, while the law cuts the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% permanently.

The House, which was forced to vote for the measure for a second time in two days because of a procedural issue, passed the bill Wednesday by a vote of 224 to 201. And the Senate passed the measure just after midnight Wednesday in a 51–48 vote, with Vice President Mike Pence presiding.

Sen. John McCain, who is in Arizona receiving care for complications from his cancer treatment, was the lone Republican who did not cast a vote for the bill in the Senate. Sen. Thad Cochran has also been dealing with illness, but was able to make it to the chamber and voted for the bill.

The Senate vote was interrupted several times by protesters chanting "Kill the bill, don't kill us!" Several protesters were removed from the chamber. When the vote was read out by Pence, a final protester yelled “You have sentenced me to die!” as Republicans began applauding the passage of their bill.

Neither Ryan nor Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell were deterred by any criticism, and said Republicans would eventually be able to convince voters the bill would help them.

“If we can’t sell this to the American people we ought to go into another line of work," McConnell told reporters after the Senate’s final vote. "I think this is an important accomplishment for the country that people will value and appreciate, but obviously it requires us continuing this discussion.”

While the Friday signing was relatively low-key, Trump invited congressional Republicans to the White House Wednesday afternoon to celebrate the bill's passage, where he hailed the bill as record-breaking and "something special" and brought Ryan, Pence, and others up to speak on its behalf.

The event was replete with circular congratulations.

“These are the people right behind me who worked so hard, so long,” Trump said of congressional leadership. "Something this big, something this generational, something this profound could not have been done without exquisite presidential leadership," Ryan said of Trump.

The Republican Party and the president now have their first major legislative success of the year, one that’s long been a priority for Ryan, McConnell, and many congressional Republicans, as well as the party’s high-dollar donors. The earlier, nearly identical version of the plan passed the House with a 227–203 vote Tuesday with a jubilant Ryan in the chair.