House passes Trump's "big, beautiful bill" after stamping out GOP rebellion
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House Speaker Mike Johnson at the U.S. Capitol on July 2. Photo: Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The House passed President Trump's "big, beautiful bill" Thursday, clearing the way for Trump to sign it by his July 4 deadline.
Why it matters: It's a massive victory for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who was able to flip dozens of members who had initially threatened to vote "no" — as well as for Trump and Senate Republicans.
- The bill passed 218-214. Reps. Thomas Massie (Ky.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.) were the only Republicans to join all Democrats in voting against the measure.
- Moderates and conservatives demanded adjustments after the Senate made significant changes to the House version — but ultimately none were made.
The big picture: Several key holdouts flipped following meetings with the president at the White House, but a group of hardliners needed more persuading.
- Johnson and other leaders shuffled in and out of a room tucked off the House floor where House Freedom Caucus members camped out during negotiations.
- Trump "was directly engaged" throughout the evening in the ongoing effort to sway lawmakers, who "wanted to hear certain assurances from him about what's ahead, what the future will entail, and what we're going to do next," Johnson told reporters.
- The House narrowly approved its own version of the bill in May with the commitment from leadership that members would see improvements.
Zoom in: House GOP leadership had to hold open what was meant to be a five-minute procedural vote for hours Wednesday as they worked to whip the remaining "no" votes.
- They eventually set a new record for the longest House vote: seven hours and 24 minutes.
- Another vote to start debate on the bill was left open for nearly 6 hours.
Between the lines: The House floor again came to a standstill overnight while House leaders continued negotiations.
- A resolution setting the terms for floor debate on the reconciliation package was eventually adopted — at about 3:30am Thursday.
- In the end, Fitzpatrick was the only Republican to vote with all Democrats in opposition to the rule resolution.
The intrigue: And after GOP leaders finally secured the votes to pass the bill, Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) caused yet another delay.
- Perry had returned to Pennsylvania to get a "fresh change of clothes," according to Johnson.
- Conservatives demanded House leaders wait for him to return to Washington to cast his vote.
- Johnson said he even offered to loan Perry clothes, but Perry refused the offer.
Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) held the floor for close to nine hours Thursday to protest the proposal, setting a new record.
- But Democrats ultimately could only delay and not block the plan.
The details: The bill makes permanent Trump's 2017 tax cuts and adds additional tax benefits, including eliminating taxes on tips and overtime and giving a temporary tax deduction for those 65 and older.
- It makes significant changes to Medicaid, including imposing work requirements and reducing federal cost-sharing with states.
- It raises the debt ceiling by $5 trillion, and provides $175 billion for border security as well as $150 billion for defense.
- It temporarily raises the cap on state and local tax (SALT) deductions to $40,000 before reverting to the current $10,000 cap after 5 years.
By the numbers: The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the bill would add roughly $3.3 trillion to the national debt over the next 10 years.
- The White House disputes the analysis, arguing it would instead decrease the deficit by over $5 trillion when combined with other growth efforts.
- CBO also estimates the changes to Medicaid would result in nearly 12 million fewer people with health insurance over the next decade.
What's next: Johnson is already eyeing another reconciliation package for later this year.
- "The plan is to do one in the fall for FY26 budget year, and we can also squeeze in a third one for FY27 before this Congress is up," Johnson said on Fox Tuesday.
- "Speaker Johnson has been really good about talking long-term, that this is not the only tool at the disposal of Congress," Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) told reporters.
- He added: "There are a number of other things that can be done legislatively in the months to come to more fully deliver conservative priorities."
Editor's note: This story is corrected to state that the bill will give a temporary tax deduction for those 65 and older (not eliminate a tax on Social Security).
