The White House
In a significant and hard-won legislative victory for former President Donald Trump, the US Congress has passed his expansive tax and spending bill, marking a major step forward for his domestic agenda.
Following an intense and protracted session on Capitol Hill, the House of Representatives approved the bill on Thursday afternoon with a narrow 218 to 214 vote. The legislation had earlier cleared the Senate on Tuesday by a single vote margin.
Trump had set a firm deadline, urging the Republican-majority Congress to deliver the final version of the bill for his signature by the 4th of July holiday.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has projected that the bill could add approximately $3.3 trillion (£2.4 trillion) to the federal deficit over the next decade, while potentially stripping millions of Americans of their health coverage. However, the White House has challenged these projections. Addressing reporters on Thursday evening, Trump claimed the bill would “turn this country into a rocket ship.”
“This is going to be a great bill for the country,” he declared.
He is expected to officially sign the legislation into law at a ceremonial event on July 4 at 17:00 EDT (22:00 BST).
A visibly jubilant House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, spoke to reporters after the vote and credited “belief” as the driving force behind uniting the party.
“I believed in the people that are standing here behind me… Some of them are more fun to deal with,” he quipped, adding, “I mean that with the greatest level of respect.”
Among the more skeptical Republicans was Texas Representative Chip Roy, who had denounced the Senate version of the bill as a “travesty.” Initially a firm “no” vote, Roy ultimately reversed his position by the time voting commenced. “I feel like we got to a good result on key things,” he said, despite the House making no changes to the Senate-passed text.
While many GOP lawmakers rallied behind the bill, only two Republicans—Thomas Massie and Brian Fitzpatrick—voted against it on Thursday.
When Speaker Johnson announced the bill’s passage by a four-vote margin, dozens of Republican legislators erupted into cheers, chanting “USA! USA!” on the House floor.
The final vote had been delayed earlier in the day by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who delivered the longest speech in the chamber’s history. His “magic minute” address—an allowance granted to party leaders to speak at length—lasted eight hours and 45 minutes.
Jeffries promised to “take his sweet time on behalf of the American people,” sharply criticizing the bill’s provisions, which include cuts to health care and food assistance programs, and the rollback of clean energy tax credits.
The legislation fulfills two of Trump’s key campaign promises: making permanent his 2017 tax cuts and eliminating taxes on tips, overtime pay, and Social Security income. These measures are expected to cost $4.5 trillion over the next decade.
Additional provisions include $150 billion (£110 billion) in funding for border security, detention centers, and immigration enforcement, as well as $150 billion allocated for military spending—particularly for Trump’s proposed “gold dome” missile defense initiative.
Democrats, who used various procedural tactics to delay the vote, fiercely opposed the final bill.
They argued it disproportionately benefits the wealthy while harming vulnerable Americans. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California described the day as the beginning of a “dark and harrowing time,” calling the bill a “dangerous checklist of extreme Republican priorities.”
Representative Deborah Ross of North Carolina said, “Shame on those who voted to hurt so many in the service of so few,” while Arizona’s Yassamin Ansari expressed sadness, and Texas Democrat Marc Veasey branded the GOP “the party of cowards, chaos, and corruption.”
The fate of what Trump has dubbed the “big, beautiful bill” was uncertain until late Wednesday, as internal Republican divisions over fiscal concerns left its future in doubt. Trump took to Truth Social in frustration, posting, “What are the Republicans waiting for??? What are you trying to prove??? MAGA IS NOT HAPPY, AND IT’S COSTING YOU VOTES!!!” shortly after midnight on Thursday.
Though Republicans control both chambers of Congress, the party remains divided across ideological lines, with internal disputes over key elements of the massive legislation.
Confidence among GOP leadership grew in the early hours of Thursday, as a procedural vote on the measure passed shortly after 03:00 EDT (07:00 GMT). The decisive final vote followed nearly 12 hours later, at 14:30 EDT (19:30 GMT).
