Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill' Approved in the House After Long Debate

Republicans in the House of Representatives passed President Donald Trump's self-annointed One Big Beautiful Bill on Thursday, assuring passage when it lands on his desk for signing on July 4, as demanded of his party, which holds majorities in both chambers of Congress.

The bill passed along largely party lines with a final vote of 218-214, with two Republicans joining all the Democrats in voting against the bill. The House's original bill passed through the Senate on Tuesday after some changes - with Vice President JD Vance casting the tie-breaking vote - and was voted on in that altered form by the House on Thursday.

The White House quickly announced that Trump will sign the bill on Friday, July 4 - US Independence Day - a symbolic date the president will no doubt use to underscore the scale of his political victory.

Several Republicans in both the House and the Senate had made a point of saying they didn't like aspects of the bill before cowing to Trump for fear of political retribution.

Over the years, Trump has made good on promises to drive those Republicans who vote against him out of the party or into retirement. Wrangling in the run-up to the bill was no different, with Republican Senator Thom Tillis, for instance, announcing that he would not seek reelection before he voted against it.

Beyond getting Republicans to pass his desired legislation, Trump also has them parroting his branding, with everyone calling it the "One Big Beautiful Bill" or BBB.

Democrats and some Republicans complained at all stages that the bill was being rushed to passage by the president with members of Congress not even having time to read what was in it. A public reading of the bill forced by Senate Democrats droned on for nearly 16 hours.

Among other things, the bill will make tax cuts for the wealthy permanent and pour trillions of dollars into defense and immigrant detention and deportation spending while slashing health care funding for millions of low-income Americans and meals for kids in poor school districts.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that the $4.5 tillion (€3.8 trillion) tax-cut portion of the bill - a major priority for Trump and Republicans - will increase income in wealthy households by as much as $12,000 a year, but a translate into a loss of $1,600 a year for poor taxpayers due to the clawback of health and food assistance.