WASHINGTON — The Republican-controlled House of Representatives on Thursday passed a sweeping bill after 24 hours of tense talks, sending the it to President Donald Trump’s desk.
The final vote of 218-214 was along party lines with Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) joining the Democrats in voting against the bill.
Trump is expected to sign the bill into law on Independence Day, hosting a signing ceremony at the White House.
The President celebrated the news with a post on Truth Social.
“The Republicans in the House of Representatives have just passed the ‘ONE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL ACT.’ Our Party is UNITED like never before and, our Country is ‘HOT.’ We are going to have a Signing Celebration at the White House,” Trump wrote. “All Congressmen/women and Senators are invited.”
The legislation is Trump’s agenda for his second term. It includes extending the 2017 Trump tax cuts. It approves billions of dollars in new spending on the military and I.C.E. to carry out Trump’s mass deportation plans. This will be paid for with deep cuts to Medicaid, food aid benefits and clean energy funding. That includes an estimated $930 billion in spending reductions under Medicaid.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said the Republicans did not want to ‘waste’ the chance to not pass the bill.
“Republicans in Congress have succeeded in our mission to enact President Trump’s America First agenda,” Johnson said. “And importantly, we did it in record time, so that the effects of this nation-shaping legislation can be felt by the American people as soon as possible.”
The bill is also projected to increase the national debt by $3.3 trillion over a decade and the debt ceiling by $5 trillion.
Trump told reporters on Thursday that it was “easy” to get skeptical Republicans on board with the idea.
“I did not have much of a problem with any of them,” Trump said. “No deals. What I did, is we talked about how good the bill is.”
