The United States Congress has approved President Donald Trump’s massive tax and spending bill, bringing an end to days of debate and late-night votes in the Capitol. Republicans in the House of Representatives pushed through the final approval of the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill,’ valued at $4.5 trillion, overcoming multiple setbacks to pass the hallmark policy package of Trump’s second term before the July 4 deadline.
The narrow vote, 218-214, had potentially high political costs, as two Republicans joined all the Democrats in opposition. Republican Party leaders worked overnight, and the President himself relied on a handful of skeptics to abandon their opposition and send him the bill for his signature to become law.
Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries from New York delayed the vote by keeping the chamber occupied for over eight hours with a record-breaking speech against the bill.
«We have a significant job to finish,» said House Speaker Mike Johnson. «With a grand and beautiful piece of legislation, we will make this country stronger, safer, and more prosperous than ever.»
The outcome marks a significant victory for the president and his party. It was a long-term effort to compile a lengthy list of Republican priorities into a single 800-page package.
Tax cuts and reductions in the safety net
At its core, the package prioritizes $4.5 trillion in tax breaks enacted in 2017 during Trump’s first term that would expire if Congress does not act, along with other new measures.
This includes allowing workers to deduct tips and overtime pay, and a $6,000 (€5,105) deduction for most seniors earning less than $75,000 annually.
There is also a significant investment of approximately $350 billion (€297 billion) in national security and in Trump’s deportation agenda, as well as in helping to develop the defensive system known as the Iron Dome over the United States.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, strikes the gavel in the chamber during the final approval of President Donald Trump’s flagship bill AP Photo.
To help offset the loss of tax revenue, the package includes $1.2 trillion in cuts to Medicaid healthcare assistance and food stamps, largely through the imposition of new work requirements, even for some parents and the elderly, as well as a significant rollback in tax credits for green energy.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that the package will add $3.3 trillion to the deficit over the decade, and an additional 11.8 million people will be left without health coverage.»This was a generational opportunity to present the most comprehensive and significant set of conservative reforms in modern history, and that is exactly what we are doing,» stated Jodey Arrington, chairman of the House Budget Committee.
The Democrats unite against the ‘ugly bill’.
The Democrats united against the bill, deeming it a tax gift to the wealthy paid for at the expense of the working class and the most vulnerable in society, which they termed ‘drip cruelty.’ Tensions escalated in the chamber.
Hakeem Jeffries began his speech at 4:53 and concluded at 13:37, a record of eight hours and 44 minutes later as he argued against what he called Trump’s ‘ugly big bill.»We are better than this,’ said Jeffries, who exercised a leader’s prerogative for unlimited debate and read letter after letter from Americans discussing their dependence on health programs.
The House Minority Leader, Hakeem Jeffries, speaks in front of the U.S. Capitol on July 2, 2025. AP Photo.
«I never thought I would be in the House saying that this is a crime scene,» Jeffries said. «It is a crime scene, going after the health, and safety, and well-being of the American people.» And as Democrats, he stated, «we do not want to be a part of this.» The processing of the package in Congress has been difficult from the beginning. Republicans have struggled with the bill at nearly every step of the way, arguing in both the House and the Senate, often succeeding by the narrowest of margins: just one vote. The Senate passed the package days earlier, with Vice President J.D. Vance breaking the tie.
