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House Republicans narrowly passed their budget megabill Thursday morning, sending the massive package containing the bulk of President Donald Trump’s agenda to the Senate. The 215-214 vote advances the 1,100-page bill that few, if any, members have had time to read in its entirety after last-minute changes were made to win over a group of conservative holdouts.
After hours of overnight debate, two Republicans — Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Warren Davidson of Ohio — joined all Democrats present in voting against the bill. GOP Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland voted present.
The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” as the legislation is called, includes an extension and expansion of the tax cuts that Republicans passed in 2017. In paying for the trillions of dollars in reduced revenue those cuts would bring, the GOP has opted to slash hundreds of billions in funding from social safety net programs like Medicaid and SNAP, formerly known as food stamps. Despite that, the bill, as previously analyzed by the Congressional Budget Office, would still drive up the deficit.
Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., have spent the last several days attempting to wrangle members of the far-right House Freedom Caucus into line. A Wednesday afternoon meeting at the White House managed to shake loose enough would-be no votes to allow the bill to pass in the face of united Democratic opposition. Moderates who were wary of the changes to social programs and the rollback of green energy credits also fell in line rather than protest further.
Having passed under budget reconciliation rules, the bill will now be fast-tracked in the Senate, where Democrats will be unable to filibuster it. But the Senate GOP has said they intend to make changes to the bill before sending it back to the House. It is unclear whether the scope of those potential tweaks will endanger the bill being able to quickly reach Trump’s desk.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.