WASHINGTON (TNND) — President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” has been passed by House Republicans after pushing through an all-nighter.
Speaker Mike Johnson announced the vote was 215-214, making good on his promise to get it done by Memorial Day.
The budget bill, which is a key part of Trump’s agenda, has faced opposition from some members of the GOP, primarily within the Freedom Caucus. A critical meeting that took place on Wednesday with Trump and Johnson came after negotiations with these hard-liners went south late Tuesday night.
It will now go to the Senate for a final vote, and GOP leaders hope to have it signed into law by July 4.
The 1,116-page “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” includes provisions to make 2017 tax cuts permanent, allocates over $46 billion for the construction of a southern border wall, and provides $4 billion to hire additional border agents and customs officers. It also proposes $150 billion more for defense spending. To fund these initiatives, the bill suggests a nearly $800 billion reduction to Medicaid, introducing work requirements that could potentially remove millions from the program.
“The bill gets Americans back to winning again, and it’s been a long time coming,” Johnson said moments before the final vote. “It quite literally is again morning in America, isn’t it, all right?”
Two House Republicans, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, opposed the vote alongside the entire House Democratic Caucus, while Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, voted present.
Trump previously called Massie a “grandstander” who should be voted out of office.
“I just don’t think he understands government. If you ask him a couple of questions, he never gives you an answer,” Trump said after visiting House Republicans on Tuesday to push the bill forward. “He just says I’m a no. He thinks he’s going to get publicity and you have that. You have that. They’ve got some too.”
Democrats argued the package is little more than a giveaway to the wealthy at the expense of health care and food programs Americans rely on.
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries read letters from Americans during voting, describing the way the cuts would hurt them and calling it “one big ugly bill.”
Before the final vote, GOP leaders unveiled a 42-page amendment with several revisions.
The changes included speedier implementation of the Medicaid work requirements, which will begin in December 2026, rather than January 2029, and a faster roll back of the production tax credits for clean electricity projects, both sought by the conservatives.
A $12 billion fund for the Department of Homeland Security to reimburse states that help federal officials with deportations and border security.
Raising state and local tax deductions (SALT) to $40,000 for incomes under $500,000.
Republicans also renamed a proposed new children’s savings program after the president, changing it from MAGA accounts — money account for growth and advancement — to simply “Trump” accounts.
