A sweeping domestic policy bill now heads to the Senate after passing the House along party lines.
President Trump’s highly touted “big, beautiful” bill passed the House of Representatives after weeks of back-and-forth in both parties. President Trump and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson teamed up to convince the remaining holdouts to help send the bill to the Senate, where Republicans have vowed to make significant changes. The bill passed the House after an overnight debate by just one vote, 215-214, where two present Republicans joined every House Democrat in voting against passage. The legislation is aimed to extend President Trump’s signature 2017 tax cuts he enacted in his first term.
Republicans agreed to a nearly 42-page amendment to the spending bill at the last minute, in an effort to assuage some GOP holdouts. Among those changes was a new plan to expedite the enforcement of work requirements for Medicaid recipients by two years to the end of 2026. Republicans also expanded the federal deduction for state and local taxes for those earning less than $500,000 per year. Johnson agreed to the increase in the State and Local Tax deduction (SALT) cap after urging from Republicans who disagreed with the move to cap the deductions at $10,000 in 2017. With the increases, middle class Americans have more ability to write off certain tax items.
The bill, which was renamed to the “one big, beautiful bill act” also includes several provisions for increasing funding to the southern border and national defense initiatives. The President also touted the end of taxes on tips and overtime wages for employees. The GOP utilized a budget reconciliation process to push the package forward, which will circumvent a filibuster by Senate Democrats. The legislation is a victory for Speaker Johnson, who convinced dozens of undecided members within his caucus.
“Today, the House has passed generational, truly nation-shaping legislation to reduce spending and permanently lower taxes for families and job-creators, secure the border, unleash American energy dominance, restore peace through strength and make government work more efficiently and effectively for all Americans,” Johnson said. He added it was “finally morning in America again”, quoting President Ronald Reagan’s iconic 1984 campaign ad.
As Republicans celebrated, Democrats vowed to use the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act as ammunition gearing for the 2026 midterms. House Democrats repeatedly criticized the bill as favoring the rich and said it would be devastating to poor and working-class families. Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin pledged that they would “do everything in our power to kick those who are responsible out of office.”
In its own statement, the RNC accused Democrats of “signing their own political death warrant” and “betraying working-class families.” The bill is a direct extension of Trump’s first term tax cuts, which focused primarily on working class families, and increasing the qualified business income deduction amount for small business owners. While Speaker Johnson agreed to certain concessions to Republicans from higher-tax blue states, it still faces an uncertain future in the Senate. Johnson’s message to Senate Republicans was simple: “the President is waiting with his pen.”
