Republicans in the US House of Representatives passed President Donald Trump's self-annointed One Big Beautiful Bill on Thursday, assuring passage when it lands on his desk for signing on July 4, as demanded of his party, which holds majorities in both chambers of Congress.
The bill passed along largely party lines with a final vote of 218-214, with two Republicans joining all the Democrats in voting against the bill.
The House's original bill passed through the Senate on Tuesday after some changes — with Vice President JD Vance casting the tie-breaking vote — and was voted on in that altered form by the House on Thursday.
The White House quickly announced that Trump will sign the bill on Friday, July 4 — US Independence Day — a symbolic date the president will no doubt use to underscore the scale of his political victory.
Several Republicans in both the House and the Senate had made a point of saying they didn't like aspects of the bill before cowing to Trump for fear of political retribution.
Over the years, Trump has made good on promises to drive those Republicans who vote against him out of the party or into retirement. Wrangling in the run-up to the bill was no different, with Republican Senator Thom Tillis, for instance, announcing that he would not seek reelection before he voted against it.
What's in Trump's tax and spending bill?
Beyond getting Republicans to pass his desired legislation, Trump also has them parroting his branding, with everyone calling it the "One Big Beautiful Bill" or BBB.
Democrats and some Republicans complained at all stages that the bill was being rushed to passage by the president with members of Congress not even having time to read what was in it. A public reading of the bill forced by Senate Democrats droned on for nearly 16 hours.
Among other things, the bill will make tax cuts for the wealthy permanent and pour trillions of dollars into defense and immigrant detention and deportation spending while slashing health care funding for millions of low-income Americans and meals for kids in poor school districts.
Big tax cuts for the wealthy, increased tax burden for the poor
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that the $4.5 tillion (€3.8 trillion) tax-cut portion of the bill — a major priority for Trump and Republicans — will increase income in wealthy households by as much as $12,000 a year, but a translate into a loss of $1,600 a year for poor taxpayers due to the clawback of health and food assistance.
The CBO estimates that some 11.8 million poor Americans will lose their health care coverage when Trump signs the bill into law. Another 3 million will no longer qualify for food assistance.
Work requirements and medical co-pay plans have also been introduced in an effort to cut health care spending and fund the abovementioned tax cuts.
Tax cuts for renewable energy projects have also been done away with by Republicans who claim they are a waste and that the money is better spent elsewhere. Democrat Ron Wyden of Oregon called the move a "death sentence for America's wind and solar industries and an inevitable hike in utility bills."
Tax breaks for those buying electric vehicles will also expire in September rather than in 2032.
The bill's backers say tax cuts for corporations and businesses will boost economic growth, promising that ultimately everyone will benefit.
Abuse of welfare systems has been repeatedly used by Republicans as justification to pass welfare cuts, though in media appearances and during debates they offered little more than unsubstantiated anecdotal accusations.
Spending big on immigrant detention and defense
Beyond massive cuts to domestic health care and nutritional programs, some parts of the government, namely the defense and immigration policing sectors, are set to get enormous spending boosts.
Some $350 billion are earmarked for immigration policy, including more border wall construction, the building of facilities to house at least 100,000 immigrant detainees, and the hiring of at least 100,000 new Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in an effort to meet Trump's stated goal of deporting one million people from America each year.
The American Immigration Council said the bill provides $45 billion for detention facilities for ICE, an increase of 265% in the agency's annual detention budget.
The Defense Department will also see a major funding boost under the legislation, with billions being dedicated to new shipbuilding, munitions and a national missile defense shield.
Moreover, the DoD will receive $1 billion for border security measures.
Ideological slash and burn
Numerous other pet projects will be funded by the bill, including childbirth savings accounts that the GOP refer to as Trump accounts, and $40 million to build Trump's "National Garden of American Heroes" — a right-wing history park featuring figures the president deems to be "American heroes."
The bill also taxes immigrant remittances and again attacks higher education in the US by levying a new tax on university endowments.
Other taxes, such as those on gun silencers, were eliminated.
Funding for abortions will be cut by the bill, Mars exploration will get billions of dollars.
The legislation also raises the debt ceiling by $5 trillion to enable continued borrowing.
In all, the Congressional Budget Office projects the bill will increase federal deficits by nearly $3.3 trillion over the next 10 years.
