Updated May 22, 2025 - Politics & Policy

House passes Trump's "big, beautiful bill" after tense GOP talks

Trump and Mike Johnson standing next to each other in a white marble hallway while wearing blue suits. — President Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson at the U.S. Capitol on May 20. Photo: Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The House voted Thursday to pass President Trump's "big, beautiful bill" after weeks of Republican infighting that repeatedly threatened to tank the GOP-only legislation.

Why it matters: It's a major step toward getting the hulking fiscal package signed into law, though the Senate is likely to make substantial changes that could be difficult for House GOP hardliners to swallow.

The vote was 215-214.
Two Republicans — Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Warren Davidson of Ohio — joined Democrats in voting "no," while Andy Harris of Maryland voted present.

The big picture: The bill would extend the 2017 Trump tax cuts and aims to cut $1.5 trillion in federal spending, including through Medicaid work requirements and the repeal of the Inflation Reduction Act tax credits.

It took considerable wrangling by House Republican leadership to get to this point, with members of the right-wing House Freedom Caucus threatening to oppose it as recently as Wednesday.

State of play: The vote came after a marathon congressional session in which some lawmakers stayed up for days.

The House Rules Committee met early Wednesday morning to markup the bill only ending late Wednesday night.
House Democrats gummed up the works with several procedural votes, pushing the vote time back to around 6:30 am ET on Thursday.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional reporting.

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House passes Trump's "big, beautiful bill" after tense GOP talks

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