GOP Pushes Through Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” Amid Fierce Backlash

By a 218–214 hair's breadth vote, the House of Representatives passed President Donald Trump's sweeping tax and spending legislation, the "Big Beautiful Bill", sending it to his desk in time for his own July 4 deadline. The legislation, a signature of Trump's second-term agenda, makes permanent the 2017 tax cuts, eliminates taxes on overtime and tips, and injects billions of dollars into defense and immigration enforcement. But it does so at a very steep cost: $1.2 trillion in cuts to Medicaid, food assistance, and clean energy programs.

The bill's passage followed a dramatic overnight standoff, as GOP leaders held open the procedural vote for over six hours in an attempt to pressure holdouts. Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance called reluctant Republicans personally, and eventually, sufficient votes were switched to pass it. Only two Republicans, Reps. Thomas Massie and Brian Fitzpatrick, voted with Democrats to oppose it.

Critics warn the bill will leave nearly 12 million Americans uninsured and add $3.3 trillion to the national debt over the next decade. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries delivered a record-breaking 8-hour, 44-minute speech condemning the bill as “an extraordinary assault on the health care of the American people.”

Despite Republican infighting and public outcry, the GOP hailed the bill as a victory of historic significance. It was referred to by Speaker Mike Johnson as "a cornerstone of America's new golden age," and Trump declared it as "the biggest bill of its kind ever signed." He is said to sign it at a July 4 ceremony at the White House.