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House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) delayed the vote by delivering a record-setting eight-hour, 44-minute floor speech, arguing the bill hurts everyday Americans and gives tax breaks to the wealthy. The vote followed on Thursday afternoon, July 3.
The final tally was 218–214, with just two Republicans voting against the bill — Pennsylvania moderate Brian Fitzpatrick and Kentucky's Thomas Massie — and no Democrats voting in favor of it.
Dubbed the “big, beautiful bill” by the White House and top Republicans, the legislation is a core pillar of Trump's second-term agenda. Trump is expected to sign it on July Fourth.
The bill would lock in key provisions of Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, making most of those reductions permanent while boosting funding for defense, border security, and domestic energy production.
But it comes with tradeoffs. To offset some of the cost, Republicans approved steep cuts to federal health and nutrition programs, including Medicaid and SNAP, formerly known as food stamps.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projects the plan would add $3.4 trillion to the federal deficit over the next decade and result in millions losing health coverage, estimates the administration has dismissed.
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