US House of Representatives passes Trump's ‘One Big Beautiful Bill'
The lower house of the US Congress voted by a margin of 218 to 214 in favour of the bill on Thursday.
All 212 Democratic members of the House opposed the bill. They were joined by Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania.
The bill now heads to the White House for Trump to sign it into law. The Republican president had called on his fellow party members to pass the legislation before July 4, the country's Independence Day.
As a result of the new legislation, the US will lift its debt ceiling — the amount the federal government is allowed to borrow — by $5 trillion.
The bill also pours tens of billions of dollars into immigration enforcement, one of Trump's top priorities, and it will also cement the 2017 tax cuts that Trump championed during his first term as president.
To pay for those expenditures, the bill scaled back social initiatives like Medicaid — government health insurance for low-income households — and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), otherwise known as food stamps.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the bill will increase the number of people without health insurance by 17 million over the next 10 years.
It also projected that the country's deficit — the amount of money the US owes — would climb by about about $3.3 trillion over the same period.
Democratic lawmakers had slammed the bill as a massive redistribution of wealth from the poor to the rich, noting that the tax cuts will mainly benefit the wealthiest earners.
Republican supporters like Trump have countered that the bill will fuel growth and cut waste and fraud in the programmes like Medicaid.
Yet, not all conservatives backed the 'One Big Beautiful Bill' as it wound its way through the chambers of Congress. There were several Republican holdouts who feared how the Medicaid cuts would impact low-income and rural communities, and some fiscal conservatives objected to the increase in the national debt.
'FOR REPUBLICANS, THIS SHOULD BE AN EASY YES VOTE,' Trump said in a social media post on Wednesday night. 'RIDICULOUS!!!'
Even Trump's erstwhile ally, billionaire Elon Musk, has publicly opposed the bill over provisions he described as 'pork'.
A record-breaking speech
In the lead-up to Thursday's vote, Democrats attempted to stall, with the stated aim of allowing voters more time to contact their local representatives in protest.
The face of that effort was Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who exercised a privilege known as the 'magic minute' that allows party leaders to speak as long as they want from the House floor.
Jeffries stretched that privilege into an hours-long appeal to Republicans to stand up against what he described as Trump's harmful policies. He started at around 4:53am local time (8:53 GMT) and ended past 1:39pm (17:39 GMT).
It was the longest speech ever delivered on the House floor, approximately eight hours and 44 minutes.
'I'm here to take my sweet time on behalf of the American people,' Jeffries told the House, his voice wavering at points during the speech.
He directed his remarks to the speaker of the House, a role occupied by Republican Mike Johnson.
'Donald Trump's deadline may be Independence Day. That ain't my deadline,' Jeffries said. 'You know why, Mr. Speaker? We don't work for Donald Trump. We work for the American people.'
Jeffries warned that the 'One Big Beautiful Bill' — which he dubbed the 'One Big Ugly Bill' — 'hurts everyday Americans and rewards billionaires with massive tax breaks'. The legislation, he added, was simply reckless.
He called his colleagues across the aisle to show 'show John McCain-level courage', dropping a reference to the late Republican senator from Arizona, known for standing up to Trump on the question of healthcare.
McCain has often been cited as a symbol of bipartisanship in Congress, and Jeffries urged his Republican colleagues to reach across the aisle.
'We acknowledged the election of President Donald Trump, offered to work with our colleagues on the other side of the aisle whenever and wherever possible in order to make life better for the American people,' Jeffries said.
'But the route, Mr Speaker, that has been taken by House Republicans is to go it alone and to try to jam this One Big Ugly Bill — filled with extreme right-wing policy priorities — down the throats of the American people.'
In a poll last week from Quinnipiac University, for example, just 29 percent of respondents indicated they were in favour of the legislation, while 55 percent were against it.
Jeffries later added, 'We're not here to bend the knee to any wannabe king,' comparing resistance to Trump to the US's revolutionary war era. When he finally said he would yield back the floor, Democrats exploded into applause, chanting his name: 'Hakeem! Hakeem! Hakeem!'
A long road to the vote
In order to reach Thursday's vote, the House had remained in session overnight, as part of a marathon session.
But in the minutes before the dramatic vote took place, Speaker Johnson himself briefly spoke to the House, rallying Republicans to show a unified front.
He also took a jab at Jeffries's record-breaking speech: 'It takes a lot longer to build a lie than to tell the simple truth.'
'We've waited long enough. Some of us have literally been up for days now,' Johnson continued. 'With this One Big Beautiful Bill, we are going to make this country stronger, safer and more prosperous than ever before, and every American is going to benefit from that.'
He added that the 'One Big Beautiful Bill' would make programmes like Medicaid 'stronger with our reforms'.
It has been a long road for Republicans to reach Thursday's vote, stretching back months. The House first passed the 'One Big Beautiful Bill' on May 22, in another overnight vote.
In that vote, the legislation passed by the narrowest of margins, with 215 voting in favour and 214 against. Representatives Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Warren Davidson of Ohio joined a unified Democratic front in voting against the bill at that time, and Maryland's Andy Harris voted 'present'. Two more Republicans missed the vote entirely.
That propelled the bill to the Senate, where it faced another uphill battle. The 100-seat chamber has 53 Republicans and 47 Democrats and left-leaning independents.
To avoid facing a Democratic filibuster, Republicans subjected the 'One Big Beautiful Bill' to the Byrd Rule, which allows legislation to pass with a simple majority.
But in order to comply with the Byrd Rule, Republicans had to strike provisions that had little to no budget impact or increased the deficit outside of a 10-year window.
Still, the revised Senate version of the bill faced a nail-biter of a vote. On July 1, after another all-nighter, the vote was 50 to 50, with three Republicans siding with the Democrats. Vice President JD Vance cast the tie-breaker to advance the bill.
Democrats did, however, notch a small symbolic victory, with Senator Chuck Schumer knocking the name 'One Big Beautiful Bill' off the final piece of legislation.
It was the Senate's version of the bill that the House voted on Thursday. At least one Republican senator, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, has expressed distaste for the legislation since voting for its passage.
'It is the people of Alaska that I worry about the most, especially when it comes to the potential loss of social safety net programs — Medicaid coverage and SNAP benefits — that our most vulnerable populations rely on,' she wrote in a statement earlier this week.
'Let's not kid ourselves. This has been an awful process — a frantic rush to meet an artificial deadline that has tested every limit of this institution.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Jazeera
an hour ago
- Al Jazeera
Live: Hamas seeks ceasefire guarantees as Israel intensifies Gaza attacks
US President Donald Trump says he wants 'safety' for people in Gaza, as he prepares to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu next week to push for a ceasefire. Hamas is seeking guarantees that a new US-backed ceasefire proposal for Gaza would lead to the war's end, a source close to the group said, as medics said Israeli strikes across the territory had killed dozens more people.
Qatar Tribune
6 hours ago
- Qatar Tribune
UN conference reaffirms fight against poverty
MadridcTypeface:> The global community has agreed on intensified efforts in combating poverty, in open contradiction to the position of US President Donald Trump. The US government is sceptical of multilateral cooperation and the UN's sustainable development goals. Consequently, the United States did not endorse the 'Seville Commitment,' which was adopted by 192 countries at the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development in the southern Spanish metropolis on Thursday. After the start of his second term, Trump had US aid cut by around 80%, which accounts for about a quarter of all global development aid. According to estimates by the United Nations, the funding gap has now grown to at least $4 trillion annually. This gap was not nearly closed at the conference in Seville, but according to financial expert Bodo Ellmers from the non-governmental organization Global Policy Forum Europe, this was not the primary goal. Instead, he said that structural reforms in areas such as tax cooperation, debt crisis management, or reform of international financial institutions should be agreed upon. Currently, 3.4 billion people live in countries that have to spend more on interest payments than what remains for education and health. This reform project was 'only moderately successful' in Seville, Ellmers criticized, saying there are hardly any concrete measures or specific quantitative or time targets included. Whether the funding gap will continue to grow depends on the concrete implementation of the agreements. German Development Minister Reem Alabali-Radovan nevertheless praised the agreement as a 'powerful boost for a fairer world.' 'Despite the difficult global situation, conflicts, and nationalist tendencies, almost all states are pulling together here,' she stressed. (DPA)
Qatar Tribune
6 hours ago
- Qatar Tribune
Rising United States debt, dollar's worst showing since 1973 stir concerns
Agencies The U.S. economy had a different start to the year. Halfway through, the impulsive policy of President Donald Trump is also not helping to preserve the so-called 'mighty' status of the dollar, which has seen the worst performance in over five decades. Since the return of Trump to the White House, uncertainty about Washington's financial policy has caused notable concern as the U.S. debt pile continues to rise. Analysts, meanwhile, say the president's 'One Big Beautiful Bill' could add extra pressure to it in the upcoming decade. Concerns over the health of the U.S. economy and growing debt have also been visible on financial markets as U.S. bond yields have climbed – an indication that investors are worried about the sustainability of the debt of the world's top economy. Those concerns have also affected the dollar, which, as the global reserve currency, has usually been seen as a safe haven currency. Foreigners have to purchase dollars if they want to buy U.S. bonds, which have also been seen as one of the safest assets in times of volatility. However, the dollar lost more than 10% during the first half of the year – its worst performance since 1973. On Thursday, it remained close to this week's 3.5-year lows, hours ahead of a key jobs report, and as a U.S.-Vietnam trade accord fanned expectations for other potential deals ahead of July 9 when U.S. tariffs take effect. Quickly changing dynamics related to tariffs, uncertainty and unpredictability when it comes to the next moves of Trump have dented investors' confidence in the world's largest economy. Recent reports, in contrast, revealed growing interest in Europe. Data from LSEG's Lipper Funds show that more than $100 billion has flowed into European equity funds so far this year – up threefold from the same period last year – while outflows from the U.S. more than doubled to nearly $87 billion. The euro, a common currency used in 20 EU countries, also strengthened compared to the greenback in the recent period.A common explanation for the weakening of the dollar versus a basket of currencies is the impact of Trump's tariffs on the U.S. economy in the long term, coupled with the expectations that it might no longer outperform other major economies. The U.S. Treasury raises funds by issuing three types of debt instruments: short-term bills, medium-term notes and long-term bonds. They carry a face value but are sold at a discount, with that price helping determine the yield, or rate of return, for investors. Higher yields indicate investors are demanding a higher rate of return to hold U.S. debt, which can be an indication of concern over whether they will eventually be repaid. The yields on 30-year U.S. bonds rose above the symbolic level of 5.0% in May, but have since retreated to around 4.8%. 'Most of the concerns stem from the 'One Big Beautiful Bill,' the law supported by the White House that includes measures to prolong tax cuts brought in by Donald Trump during his first term,' said Gregoire Kounowski, an investment advisor at asset manager Norman K. 'If the text remains unchanged, it would add $3 to $4 trillion to the U.S. debt,' he bill faces a final vote in the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday after squeaking through the Senate on Tuesday. When Moody's cut the U.S.'s top triple-A credit rating in May, it cited rising levels of government debt and the impact of the interest costs on the U.S. budget.'It was a warning signal for markets and put the trajectory of U.S. debt in the center of concerns,' said Raphael Thuin, head of capital market strategy at Tikehau Capital. U.S. debt now totals more than $36.2 trillion, according to the U.S. Treasury, or 120% of annual economic output. Around $29 trillion of that is bonds that the Treasury sells on markets to investors: principally banks, pension funds and foreign governments. Foreign governments currently own $9 trillion in U.S. debt, with Japan, Britain and China the top holders. China had until March been either the top or the second-largest holder of U.S. government debt. Since the U.S.-China trade war in 2020 during Trump's first term in office, 'China has gotten rid of U.S. debt in favour of gold. It didn't sell its bonds, but it didn't replace those that matured,' said Aurelien Buffault, an asset manager at Delubac AM. The rest of the world buys U.S. debt as they want to hold a solid dollar-denominated size of the U.S. debt market also makes it attractive to investors. 'It is about 20% larger than the European sovereign debt market in terms of capitalization,' said Guy Stear, head of developed markets research at Amundi. That makes it easier to buy and sell U.S. debt quickly. U.S. debt has until recently also benefited from being considered a 'safe haven' investment, as the U.S. government was seen as a reliable borrower. However, since April, investors have started to pass over U.S. debt and the dollar when seeking safe haven assets, noted Stear. In the current environment, 'investors are looking for alternative safe havens, that is, a currency and assets that protect them when volatility and increased uncertainty,' said Imene Rahmouni-Rousseau, director general of market operations at the European Central Bank (ECB). 'It is precisely the euro and European government bonds that have played this role of protective shield,' and 'for the first time since the 2011 financial crisis, European financial markets are considered very attractive by investors' globally, she opined.
