The “Big Beautiful Bill” Has Passed the House
Republicans advance the Trump legislative agenda.
After days of frenzied negotiations, House Republicans voted just before 7 a.m. this morning to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the GOP legislative package to cut taxes, increase defense and border security spending, and slash spending on the social safety net.
The package passed in a tight 215-214 vote, with all Republicans in support except for Reps. Warren Davidson (R-OH) and Thomas Massie (R-KY), who voted “no,” and Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD), who abstained by voting “present.” All Democrats opposed the bill.
As currently written, the measure would:
Permanently extend President Trump’s 2017 tax cuts (which are set to expire at the end of the year).
End taxes on tips and overtime pay.
Impose a new requirement that childless adult Medicaid recipients without disabilities work 80 hours a month.
Pass on some of the cost of food stamps to the states, while also mandating new work requirements for able-bodied recipients without dependents.
Phase out most of the clean energy tax credits in the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act.
Increase defense spending by $150 billion, including $25 billion to create Trump’s proposed “Golden Dome” missile defense system.
Increase border security spending by $140 billion, including $50 billion to build 700 more miles of a border wall.
Raise the debt ceiling by $4 trillion.
In a last-minute (and mostly successful) bid to win over the bill’s Republican detractors, GOP leaders made a series of changes to the package last night, including:
Capping the state and local tax (SALT) deduction — the amount of a taxpayer’s state tax bill they can write off from their federal tax bill — at $40,000. Raising the deduction from $10,000, where it was capped by the 2017 tax bill, was a top priority for Republicans from high-tax states like New York, New Jersey and California.
More quickly phasing in the Medicaid work requirements (by 2026, instead of by 2029 in the initial draft) and phasing out the clean energy tax credits, which were both top demands of conservative Freedom Caucus members.
Ending an existing $200 tax on the manufacture of gun silencers, which Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA) had called for.
Renaming the bill’s “MAGA Accounts” (investment accounts for children, into which the government will contribute $1,000 for children born between 2024 and 2028) to “Trump Accounts.”
The bill’s passage was a major victory for House Speaker Mike Johnson — and President Trump, who played a key role whipping GOP members.
“The media and the Democrats have consistently dismissed any possibility of House Republicans succeeding in our mission to enact President Trump’s America First agenda,” Johnson said in a statement. “Once again, they have been proven wrong.”
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, meanwhile, warned that this will be “the day that Republicans lost control of the House of Representatives.”
According to an analysis by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (which doesn’t take into account the last minute changes), the Republican package would reduce household resources for the poorest 10% of Americans by 2% in 2027 and by 4% in 2033, largely due to the Medicaid and food stamp changes.
Meanwhile, according to the CBO, the bill would increase household resources for the richest 10% by 4% in 2027 and by 2% in 2033, largely due to the tax cuts.
The CBO has also projected that the Medicaid work requirements would lead to 7.6 million Americans becoming uninsured.
In total, the tax cuts would reduce federal revenue by $3.8 trillion while the social safety net cuts would save about $1.1 trillion in federal spending, which means the package would add about $2.8 trillion to the federal deficit over the next 10 years.
While this morning’s vote is a crucial step forward for Republicans, the path is not over yet. The measure now goes to the Senate, where several members have competing qualms.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) has criticized the Medicaid cuts. Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT), Rand Paul (R-KY), and Ron Johnson (R-WI) have criticized the bill’s deficit impact and debt ceiling hike. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) has criticized the elimination of the clean energy tax credits.
Senate Republican leaders will only be able to afford three GOP defections to pass the bill. Any changes made in the Senate will then have to go to back to the House, where conservatives might balk at any moves to reduce the Medicaid cuts or restore the clean energy tax credits and moderates might balk at any steeper cuts to spending.
Republican leaders hope to send the bill to President Trump’s desk by July 4th.
What else you should know…
Two Israeli embassy employees were shot and killed in Washington, D.C. leaving an event at a local Jewish museum last night. (AP)
President Trump confronted South Africa’s president with claims that South Africa is perpetrating a “genocide” against white farmers during an Oval Office meeting. (CNN)
The Defense Department formally accepted a luxury Boeing 747 jet gifted by Qatar, which will be used as the next Air Force One. Ownership of the plane is expected to be transferred to the Trump presidential library foundation after he leaves office. (ABC)
Trump is hoping that Pope Leo XIV will play a role mediating Ukraine/Russia peace talks. (WaPo)
I suspect you will be commenting on this in a future WUTP, but as you point out "the package would add about $2.8 trillion to the federal deficit over the next 10 years." Google says: the [Senate] Byrd Rule prohibits: ... [any bills that] "would increase the deficit beyond the 10-year budget window covered by the reconciliation measure, it's not allowed."
The House just voted to steal $500 billion from every working American. The money they are taking from Medicare does not belong to the Federal Government. That money belongs to every worker, it was not a tax. That money belongs to the American people period.