By Joseph Lord, Nathan Worcester, Lawrence Wilson and Jackson Richman
Contributing Writers
WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives on Thursday passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to implement President Donald Trump’s agenda, sending it to the president’s desk.
The bill cleared the House in a 218-214 vote, following an all-night session as Republicans scrambled to win over holdouts who had derailed an earlier attempt to advance the 940-page measure.
The bill will head to Trump’s desk ahead of a self-imposed July 4 deadline. He is expected to sign it on Friday. The legislation enacts many of Trump’s domestic policy initiatives, including tax cuts, boosting spending for the border and defense, and phasing out clean energy tax credits.
The passage marks a major victory for Republican leadership and Trump, who had to contend with a diverse group of holdouts who objected to the Senate’s version of the bill for various reasons, including its effect on the deficit and deeper cuts to Medicaid.
Ultimately, two Republicans — Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa. — joined all Democrats to vote against the bill.
To delay the vote, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., used a procedural tool known as the “magic minute” to speak for a record-breaking 8 hours and 44 minutes in protest of the bill. He said the legislation was an “unprecedented assault” on the social safety net.
Speaking after Jeffries, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., jokingly put a big binder on his lectern, a reference to what the Democratic leader was reading from during his hours-long speech.
“This day is a hugely important one in the history of our nation,” Johnson said.
Overnight Whip Effort
A procedural measure, known as a rules vote, was held open for more than five hours overnight as it was locked in a 207-217 vote. Five Republicans had voted against advancing the bill, with eight other Republicans not voting and withholding their support.
This occurred after an earlier procedural vote was held open on the floor for a record seven and a half hours as leadership sought to build support for legislation behind the scenes.
Speaking to reporters at about 1:45 a.m. ET, Johnson blamed the breadth of the Senate changes to the bill for the difficulties.
“I encouraged our Senate colleagues to make as few modifications as possible, and they made more than I frankly anticipated,” Johnson said.
“We will make our July 4th deadline, which everybody mocked when I said it,” Johnson added, referencing Trump’s request that Congress pass the bill by Independence Day.
Four conservatives — Reps. Keith Self, R-Texas, Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., and Massie — had initially voted against advancing the bill, along with Fitzpatrick, a moderate.
Conservatives have been critical of the bill, saying it doesn’t go far enough in spending cuts and adds too much to the national debt. The Congressional Budget Office has projected that the bill could add $3.3 trillion to the deficit over 10 years.
Ultimately, four Republicans flipped their vote to yes, and the eight abstaining Republicans also voted yes. Fitzpatrick was the sole Republican to vote against advancing the bill.
Lawmakers advanced the measure at around 3:30 a.m. ET.
Rep. Bob Ondar, R-Mo., who had initially abstained from the vote to advance the measure, said at around 3 a.m. ET that the Trump administration had persuaded him to support the bill.
Members of the “SALT Caucus” — a coalition of mostly New York and California Republicans pushing for an increase to the state and local tax deduction cap in the bill — seemed generally satisfied with the Senate provision raising the cap to $40,000 for five years.
Medicaid
Democrats have universally decried the bill’s tax provisions, focusing primarily on its potential impact on Medicaid, but the bill’s Medicaid provisions were also a key issue for many House moderates.
The bill includes measures aimed at reducing federal spending on Medicaid, in part by more strictly verifying enrollees’ eligibility and requiring able-bodied, childless adults to work or perform community service for 20 hours per week.
Comments to the press from Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., chairman of the moderate Main Street Caucus, indicated that a White House meeting on Wednesday was effective in getting moderates on board with the package.
When asked about the meeting, Johnson said that Trump and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz “did a good job of working through some of the specifics,” referencing moderates’ concerns about how the bill would affect Medicaid in practice.
“The president is the best closer in the business, and he got a lot of members to ‘yes’ in that meeting,” he said.
Rep. John McGuire, R-Va., a supporter of the bill, said that Republican changes to the currently “unsustainable” program will ensure that it’s “available for people who need it for future generations.”
Rep. Greg Murphy, R-N.C., told reporters: “We’re going after waste, fraud and abuse. People shouldn’t be on the system who are not eligible.”
Jeffries said on Tuesday that the bill “guts Medicaid, rips food away from the mouths of children and rewards billionaires with massive tax breaks.”
Some Republicans also had misgivings about the bill’s potential impact on Medicaid enrollees.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, a holdout who ultimately voted in favor of the Senate bill, said she did so that the House could improve it further.
“I have urged our leadership, I have urged the White House that more process is needed to this bill, because I would like to see a better outcome for people in this country,” Murkowski said.
The CBO estimated that the bill would increase the number of uninsured Americans by 7.8 million in 2034. Republicans have disputed the accuracy of that estimate.
