House Narrowly Passes Massive Tax & Spending Bill After Tense GOP Negotiations
The House narrowly passed President Trump’s massive tax and spending legislation package, called the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” on Thursday with a 215–214 vote, fulfilling House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) goal of passing the legislation before the Memorial Day holiday.
Two Republicans, Reps. Thomas Massie (KY) and Warren Davidson (OH), joined Democrats in voting no. Freedom Caucus leader Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) voted present while Reps. Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y) and David Schweikert (R-AZ) did not vote. Garbarino apparently slept through the early morning vote!
The marathon all-night session follows days of tense negotiations between Trump, Johnson, and conservative hardliners opposed to the bill, which adds $2-3 trillion to the national debt over 10 years.
INSIDE THE MAMMOTH LEGISLATION
The more than 1,100-page bill would make permanent Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, which were set to expire this year. It also makes good on some of Trump’s campaign promises, like no taxes on tips and overtime wages, hundreds of billions of dollars in border security and defense spending and the creation of $1,000 “Trump Accounts” for newborns. To pay for some of that, the bill would cut hundreds of billions of dollars from popular social programs like Medicaid and Medicare.
Republicans made some last-minute changes to appease both conservative hardliners and lawmakers from high-tax Blue states.
For the conservative faction, requirements that Medicaid recipients work or volunteer at least 80 hours a month would now begin before the end of 2026, instead of 2029. It would also lead to $500 billion in cuts to Medicare over the next decade.
For moderates, the revised bill increases state and local tax deductions to $40,000 for individuals earning under $500,000.
To fund some of the tax cuts, it also accelerates the rollback of Biden-era clean energy tax credits.
UP NEXT
The legislation, central to Trump’s second-term agenda, now heads to the Senate, where Republicans only have a 3-seat majority. Changes are expected.
Some GOP senators have already pushed back:
Sen. Ron Johnson (WI) said, “I’m hoping now we’ll actually start looking at reality. I know everybody wants to go to Disney World, but we just can’t afford it.”
Sen. Rand Paul (KY) opposes any debt ceiling hike, Sen. Josh Hawley (MO) has criticized the proposed Medicaid cuts, and Sens. Susan Collins (ME) and Lisa Murkowski (AK) are looking for significant changes.
Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said he hopes to pass the bill by the July debt ceiling deadline. The question is whether an amended version sent back to the House will still have enough support to pass.
