House of Representatives approves ‘big beautiful bill’ in victory for Donald Trump

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Donald Trump has secured passage of his flagship tax and spending legislation after the House of Representatives approved the bill, handing the US president a political triumph six months into his second term.

The 218 to 214 vote by the House on Thursday came after Democratic minority leader Hakeem Jeffries spoke against what he called the “ugly” legislation for a record eight hours and 44 minutes, in a symbolic act of defiance.

The House’s approval also came hours after the president quashed a rebellion among House Republicans who threatened to hold up what Trump calls his “big, beautiful bill”.

“Are you tired of winning yet,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson in a speech to the chamber just ahead of the final vote.

“We have a government that is accountable and responsible to the people once again,” Johnson added, as he hailed the bill’s tax cuts and money to beef up border security, two of Trump’s campaign promises.

The bill will be ready for Trump to sign into law by his self-imposed deadline of July 4.

The legislation extends vast tax cuts from Trump’s first administration, paid for in part by steep cuts to Medicaid, the public health insurance scheme for low-income and disabled Americans, and other social welfare programmes.

The bill will also roll back Biden-era tax credits for clean energy, while scaling up investment in the military and funds for Trump’s crackdown on immigration.

It has been projected to add more than $3tn to the US debt over the long term, raising worries among economists.

Jeffries, the Democratic House leader, attacked what he termed the “devastating consequences” of “this reckless Republican budget”.

The Senate had approved the measure on Tuesday after vice-president JD Vance cast a deciding vote.

The House’s approval caps a tumultuous start to Trump’s second term. The president has rolled out sweeping tariffs, announced sweeping curbs on immigration and bolstered executive power.

In foreign policy, he has launched air strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities but struggled to achieved the peace deals he promised in Gaza and Ukraine.

The tax bill has always been central for Trump and his top officials, largely because it implements many aspects of his 2024 campaign platform, including tax relief for tips and overtime pay and support for fossil fuels.

But to secure the vote the president needed to twist the arms of Republicans concerned about the bill’s impact on the national debt and health provision, ferociously attacking House members who opposed it.

The president had to overcome a campaign to stop the legislation by billionaire Elon Musk, who bankrolled his election campaign but fell out with him last month.

Musk said he would pour money into election campaigns to unseat Republicans who support legislation that could add trillions of dollars to the national debt.

The bill includes a $5tn increase to the federal debt ceiling — the largest one-time rise in the limit, which caps how much the government can borrow.

In the end, all but two members of Trump’s party approved the legislation — Kentucky representative Thomas Massie and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania.

But every Democrat opposed a bill whose tax provisions they said would overwhelmingly benefit the wealthy while the spending cuts would leave millions of Americans without healthcare insurance.

Trump has maintained that bill’s tax cuts will deliver a new era of high growth. However, the legislation’s biggest near-term fiscal impact will come from preventing an automatic increase in income taxes that would have otherwise come into effect in 2026.

The US dollar index has steadily dropped since Trump took office in January, reflecting investors’ nerves about higher deficits. But US equity prices have rebounded since an April slump triggered by Washington’s aggressive tariff plans.

The legislation has already set the political battle lines ahead of next year’s midterm elections.

Republicans argue that they have delivered on Trump’s electoral promises, while Democrats are attacking them for turning their backs on middle-class and low-income households.

Despite criticism about the fiscal impact of the bill from some in corporate America, US business groups have largely supported the legislation because of the tax-cut extensions.

However, clean energy groups are set to be hit by subsidy cuts. Hospitals serving low-income communities reliant on government healthcare are also due to be adversely affected.

Trump, who has styled the bill’s passage as an Independence Day gift to America, plans to hold a rally on Thursday in Des Moines, Iowa, the Midwestern state where he scored initial victories in his successful 2016 and 2024 presidential campaigns.

Additional reporting by Aiden Reiter in New York