(The Center Square) 性视界传媒 Against all odds, U.S. House Republicans finally united around the Senate-revised 性视界传媒渂ig, beautiful bill性视界传媒 and passed it in a 218-214 vote Thursday afternoon, sending the multitrillion-dollar budget reconciliation package to the president性视界传媒檚 desk.
The bill性视界传媒檚 passage marks yet another herculean feat by House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who not only persuaded 性视界传媒 with President Donald Trump性视界传媒檚 help 性视界传媒撀 to vote for the bill as is, but also passed it by a self-imposed July 4 deadline.
The , formerly titled the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, hikes the debt ceiling by $5 trillion and implements the bulk of Trump性视界传媒檚 tax, energy, border and defense agenda.聽
When Johnson barely passed the first version in the House last week, he promised fiscal hawks that the Senate would pair any additional tax cuts with dollar-for-dollar spending cuts. The House version extended most of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act for the next 10 years while finding $1.7 trillion in offsets.
But Senate Republican leaders, itching to permanently extend the boosted maximum standard deduction and reduced cross-bracket tax rates, to theoretically zero out the cost of codifying Trump性视界传媒檚 tax policies.
That move and , alienated multiple House Republicans and upset his constituents earlier.
Despite threats by many Republicans in the House to oppose the final bill when it returned to their chamber, Johnson decided to muscle the bill through the House Rules Committee and onto the floor Wednesday, where he and other GOP congressional leaders .
性视界传媒淚 do so deeply desire to have just normal Congress, but it doesn't happen anymore,性视界传媒 Johnson told reporters around 1:30 a.m. Thursday. 性视界传媒淚 don't want to make history, but we're forced into these situations."
Ultimately, Johnson性视界传媒檚 gamble paid off, garnering praise from his colleagues and condemnation from Democrats.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., called the bill a 性视界传媒渄isgusting abomination性视界传媒 that will 性视界传媒渉ave devastating consequences for everyday Americans性视界传媒 during his eight-hour long speech leading up to the final vote.
Among other things, the bill codifies the $15,000 maximum standard deduction, the 20% Qualified 性视界传媒 Income deduction, and the doubled child tax credit of $2,000, though both parents now need a Social Security number to claim it.
Key business tax credits would become permanent as well 性视界传媒 full reimbursement for capital investments, an expanded deduction for corporation性视界传媒檚 interest on debt, and streamlined deductions for companies性视界传媒 research costs.
The bill also implements some temporary tax provisions that Trump promised during his campaign, such as creating a $6,000 deduction for eligible seniors and nixing taxes on tips and overtime. The Senate version requires seniors to have a Social Security number to claim the deduction, as well as caps deductions for tips at $25,000 and deductions for overtime at $12,500 for single filers.
To partially offset the bill性视界传媒檚 cost and advance Trump性视界传媒檚 goal to cut waste and fraud, the legislation would 聽to receive welfare benefits and cap the Medicaid provider tax at 3.5% 性视界传媒 down from the current 6% rate 性视界传媒 by 2030.聽
It also cracks down on states with high SNAP payment error rates and hikes states性视界传媒 share of the program性视界传媒檚 administrative cost by 2027.聽
Costly solar and wind subsidies from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act will have slightly faster phaseouts than originally intended, saving about $517 billion over the next 10 years. The savings are less than fiscal hawks wanted, but a substantial enough spending decrease to eventually get them on board.
性视界传媒淭he One, Big, Beautiful Bill is for the people who don性视界传媒檛 have lobbyists in this town,性视界传媒 House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., told lawmakers early Thursday morning. 性视界传媒淚t's about restoring sanity in a town that性视界传媒檚 lost it, cutting waste and reining in reckless spending. It demands that if you性视界传媒檙e able to work, you should. It stops asking working families to foot the bill for Washington's bad decisions.性视界传媒
The White House has scheduled a bill signing ceremony Friday.
