Trump signs his landmark ‘Big Beautiful Bill' amid July 4 pomp, fireworks at White House
Touting it as a bold step toward restoring 'American greatness,' Trump signed the bill on the White House South Lawn amid fireworks, military flyovers, and cheering crowds.
"That's a good one," he said, as he signed the document with a Sharpie marker, flanked by scores of Republican lawmakers who had fallen into line to support the "One Big Beautiful Bill."
Also Read | Musk hints at 3rd party after 'Big Beautiful Bill' passes. Here's what Tesla CEO posted
'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,' Trump said.
The Big Beautiful Bill extends Trump's 2017 multitrillion-dollar tax cuts and cuts Medicaid and food stamps by $1.2 trillion. It provides for a massive increase in immigration enforcement.
Congress's nonpartisan scorekeeper projects that nearly 12 million more people will lose health insurance under the law.
Also Read | Trump appears to concede 2020 election for first time; POTUS' July 4 video draws reactions
The bill squeezed past a final vote earlier Thursday, 218-214, after a small group of Republican opponents in the House of Representatives finally fell in line, corralled by Speaker Mike Johnson.
Democrats vs Republicans over Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill'
Democrats united against the legislation, but were powerless to stop it as long as Republicans stayed united. The Senate passed the bill, with Vice President JD Vance casting the tiebreaking vote.
Meanwhile, the Republicans say the bill is crucial because there would be a massive tax increase after December when tax breaks from Trump's first term expire. The legislation contains about $4.5 trillion in tax cuts.
The legislation is the latest in a series of big wins for Trump, including a Supreme Court ruling last week that curbed lone federal judges from blocking his policies, and the US air strikes that led to a ceasefire between Israel and Iran.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
29 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Karnataka truck operators withdraw strike as govt releases pending dues under Anna Bhagya
The Federation of Karnataka State Lorry Owners and Agents' Association on Tuesday withdrew its indefinite strike call after the government said it released Rs 244 crore in dues pending for transport operators under the flagship Anna Bhagya scheme. 'The government has given us in writing that the dues will be cleared in the next two days. So we have decided to withdraw the strike,' said G R Shanmugappa, president of the federation. An order issued by the Department of Food, Civil Supplies, Consumer Affairs and Legal Metrology, dated July 8, empowered the chief account officer of Bengaluru Urban zilla panchayat to release 244.1 crore in dues for truck operators. The protest, announced by the federation on Monday, had threatened to disrupt the supply of subsidised foodgrains to ration shops under the Congress government's scheme benefiting low-income families, potentially affecting food security in Karnataka. The truck operators had halted rice transportation under the scheme, citing unpaid dues of Rs 260 crore from February to June 2025. Shanmugappa had claimed that 3,500–4,000 drivers were affected, with some having pawned jewellery to meet fuel and other expenses and facing truck seizures by finance companies. The state government had promised payments to be made by June 19, but failed to clear the dues. Separately, the federation also demanded the rollback of the Rs 5/litre diesel hike, abolition of toll plazas on 18 highways in the state, return of Rs 25-Rs 30 crore tender deposits, cancellation of the Rs 15,000 renewal fee for older vehicles, and a 50 per cent discount on fines. The Opposition BJP has trained guns at the Congress government over the pending dues. Former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai said, 'The government has run out of money and they have no money to pay to the truck owners. The chief minister, deputy chief minister and the entire cabinet are busy saving their chairs. The government is dead and the people are waiting to throw them out.' Sanath Prasad is a senior sub-editor and reporter with the Bengaluru bureau of Indian Express. He covers education, transport, infrastructure and trends and issues integral to Bengaluru. He holds more than two years of reporting experience in Karnataka. His major works include the impact of Hijab ban on Muslim girls in Karnataka, tracing the lives of the victims of Kerala cannibalism, exploring the trends in dairy market of Karnataka in the aftermath of Amul-Nandini controversy, and Karnataka State Elections among others. If he is not writing, he keeps himself engaged with badminton, swimming, and loves exploring. ... Read More
Hindustan Times
29 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
More of Trump trade uncertainty
When President Donald Trump announced reciprocal tariffs on April 2, he marked the end of an era in global trade where the US was both a vanguard of the rules-based multilateral trade order and the largest market for many exporters. This arrangement did not just help exporters, the US too had access to cheap goods. Before the tariffs could kick in, Trump put them on hold till July 9 during which period bilateral deals were to be negotiated on terms beneficial to the US. A day before the deadline was supposed to expire, the US announced almost identical tariffs on 14 countries — they range from Japan to Myanmar in economic importance and India is yet to get a 'letter' — and threatened significant additional tariffs in case they retaliate. To be sure, Trump has kicked the can of tariff imposition down the road once more, this time to August 1. A few days ago, he announced a differentiated tariff deal with Vietnam: 20% for Vietnamese goods and 40% on trans-shipments (read redirected Chinese exports to the US). A temporary truce with China had been struck even earlier. Is there a larger takeaway from all this? Three observations can be made. One, Trump seems to have overestimated his deal making abilities with other countries. The tariffs are pretty much what they were in April, and the announcements have been unilateral rather than bilateral. Two, the US's approach to trade has now clearly shifted from a 'target China' strategy to 'target everyone'. While Trump has agreed to a 55% tariff on China as part of a temporary truce, tariffs on other countries are also significantly high, even though lower than China. The rest of the world will clearly take note of this. Three, and this is the most important, is the message that in order to negotiate with the US, one has to have a strong bargaining chip now. Trump's détente with China came after the latter held back its critical rare earth mineral supplies, the lack of which would have crippled electronics manufacturing in the US. Countries which do not have such cards against the US are being dealt a much worse deal. To be sure, Trump's ultimate test would be whether the US economy can survive the inflationary impact of these tariffs as and when they kick in. The August 1 deadline might well be extended once again. Uncertainty is the only certainty now.
Hindustan Times
29 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Indian government denies Elon Musk firm X's claim on blocking Reuters: ‘No fresh order issued'
The Indian government on Tuesday denied issuing any fresh orders on July 3 to block accounts of any global news agency, including Reuters, on Elon Musk's microblogging site X (formerly Twitter). The Indian Government said it has not issued any fresh blocking order on 3rd July, 2025 to Elon Musk's X.(AFP file) The government's response comes just hours after X claimed that it was asked to block 2,355 accounts in India, including international news outlets such as Reuters, on July 3, under section 69A of the IT Act. Refuting the allegations, an official spokesperson of the Indian government said as soon as X accounts of Reuters and Reuters World were withheld in India on Saturday evening, it got in touch with the social media platform to unblock them. This is in contrast to X's claimed that the Indian government made the request only after public outcry. 'The Government has not issued any fresh blocking order on 3rd July, 2025 and has no intention to block any prominent international News Channels including Reuters and ReutersWorld. The moment Reuters and ReutersWorld were blocked on X platform in India, immediately the government wrote to 'X' to unblock them,' said the official spokesperson in a statement. It also added that while the government engaged with X 'vigorously' since the the night of July 5 (Saturday), the platform 'un-necessarily exploited technicalities' involved around the process and did not unblock the URLs until the evening of July 6, over 21 hours later. 'The Government continuously engaged and vigorously pursued with 'X' from the late night of 5th July 2025. 'X' has un-necessarily exploited technicalities involved around the process and didn't unblock the URLs. However, after lot of follow up on hourly basis, X has finally unblocked Reuters and other URLs after 9 pm on 6th July 2025. They took more than 21 hours to unblock Reuters,' the statement said. Elon Musk-owned microblogging site X alleged on Tuesday that on July 3, the Indian government ordered it to block 2,355 accounts, including that of Reuters. It added that non-compliance to the order risked criminal liability. The social media platform also claimed and that India's IT ministry demanded it to adhere to the orders within an hour and did not provide any justification for the move. 'On July 3, 2025, the Indian government ordered X to block 2,355 accounts in India, including international news outlets like @Reuters and @ReutersWorld, under Section 69A of the IT Act. Non-compliance risked criminal liability. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology demanded immediate action- within one hour- without providing justification, and required the accounts to remain blocked until further notice,' said a post by X' Global Government Affairs account. It added that the government requested X to unblock Reuters' accounts after 'public outcry' Alleging press censorship in India, X said that it is exploring all legal options available. 'We are deeply concerned about ongoing press censorship in India due to these blocking orders. X is exploring all legal options available. Unlike users located in India, X is restricted by Indian law in its ability to bring legal challenges against these executive orders. We urge affected users to pursue legal remedies through the courts," it said.
