US President, Donald Trump has been delivered his first big legislative win of his second term, after the House approved his massive package of tax and federal spending cuts in a 218-214 vote.
This clears the bill for what some people have doubted for weeks; Trump will be able to sign his “one big, beautiful bill” by the Fourth of July.
The passage followed a fierce arm-twisting campaign by Republican leaders to unite a deeply divided party behind Trump’s sweeping domestic agenda.
The package, passed by the Senate in a marathon session earlier this week, includes tax cuts and funding boosts for the Pentagon and border security.
It also includes more contentious spending cuts to pay for the rest of the bill, including the biggest downsizing of the federal safety net in decades.
Trump made sure that his package was centered around three of the most popular policies in the Republican party — addressing border security, bolstering the military and giving out tax cuts
Those broadly popular policies helped convince House Republicans who had been highly skeptical of Trump’s bill.
The bill passage is also a significant win for House Speaker, Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Congress’ top two Republicans, who are both relatively new to the leadership suites.
Trump celebrated the passage of his domestic agenda bill on stage in Des Moines, Iowa, as a “phenomenal victory” for the US, touting its tax cuts and funding for border security.
“There could be no better birthday present for America than the phenomenal victory we achieved just hours ago when Congress passed the ‘one big, beautiful bill’ to ‘Make America Great Again,’
“Every major promise I made to the people of Iowa in 2024 became a promise kept.”
Donald Trump
Trump railed against Democrats who unanimously voted against his policy agenda, suggesting Republicans could use that against them in the 2026 midterms.
“Not one Democrat voted for us, and I think we use it in the campaign that’s coming up the midterms, because we got to beat them.
“Of the all of the things that we’ve given and they wouldn’t vote only because they hate Trump, but I hate them too, you know? I cannot stand them, because I really believe they hate our country.”
Donald Trump
House Minority Leader, Hakeem Jeffries has made clear that Democrats will make Trump’s agenda the centerpiece of their drive to flip the House next November.
He made that even clearer just before passage of the bill, when he broke the modern-day record for longest House floor speech, using his “magic minute” to speak for more than eight hours against the bill and drawing out debate on the package.
Democrats plan to hammer how the bill will slash federal dollars for Medicaid, potentially jeopardizing health coverage for 11.8 million people, as well as cuts to the nutritional aid program SNAP.
Trump At The Height Of His Political Power
The bill passage underscores what a consequential stretch of days it has been for the President, who now appears at the height of his political power roughly six months into his second term.
The landmark victory for Republicans comes just six months into Trump’s second administration – a rapid timeline that appeared in question up until the final vote. “I think I have more power now, I do,” Trump said outside Air Force One, hours after his agenda bill passed the House.
Last week’s Supreme Court decision paved the way for even more expansive use of executive authority.
His strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites appear to have created new momentum toward a ceasefire deal in Gaza.
A NATO summit last week, tailored to his preferences, resulted in new defense spending commitments after years of pressure from Trump.
Both supporters and opponents of Trump’s bill seem to agree that — for better or worse — the measure passed will now form a major part of Trump’s domestic legacy.
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