The United States House of Representatives has passed President Donald Trump’s ‘big beautiful bill’, delivering him a major political victory.
The final vote was 218-214, with only two Republicans voting against it, alongside all of the chamber’s Democrats.
The bill is being hailed as the “biggest legislative win of President Trump’s two terms”.
“President Trump’s One Big, Beautiful Bill delivers on the commonsense agenda that nearly 80 million Americans voted for – the largest middle-class tax cut in history, permanent border security, massive military funding, and restoring fiscal sanity,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
While Leavitt claims the massive tax and spending bill will fuel an “economic boom”, the Congressional Budget Office estimates it could add US$3.3 trillion to federal deficits over the next 10 years and leave millions without health coverage. The White House disputes this forecast.
The legislation barely passed the Senate on Tuesday, with JD Vance breaking the tie making it a 51-50 victory for the Republicans.
Clean energy cuts
The new bill is set to take an axe to clean energy incentives, getting rid of a 30% tax credit for rooftop residential solar by the end of the year, which the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act extended into the next decade.
In an interview with Fox News, Trump said, “windmills are destroying our place”.
“I don’t want these solar things where they go for miles and they cover up a half a mountain that are ugly as hell,” he said.
The law leaves oil, coal and gas as winners and solar and wind as losers.
Defence spending
The bill is also set to greatly increase defence spending.
It contains a US$150 million boost to defence that could see the defence budget grow to US$1 trillion in fiscal 2026.
While spending on the bill can be spread over multiple years, the Pentagon hopes to employ $113 billion of defence funds in FY2026.
Cutting Medicaid
To help create funds elsewhere, the bill has added additional restrictions and requirements to Medicaid, an American healthcare program that millions of disabled and low-income Americans rely on.
One of the key changes is new work requirements for childless adults without disabilities, who would be required to work at least 80 hours per month from December 2026.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that nearly 12 million Americans could lose their health coverage by the end of the decade because of the new changes.
In a statement, American Hospital Association president and CEO, Rick Pollack, said the association was “deeply disappointed” with the bill.
“The real-life consequences of these nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts – the largest ever proposed by Congress – will result in irreparable harm to our health care system, reducing access to care for all Americans and severely undermining the ability of hospitals and health systems to care for our most vulnerable patients,” Pollack said.
Tax breaks extensions
The bill will also see an extension of Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which he signed in his first term as President, which saw taxes lowered for corporations and individuals across most tax brackets.
While Trump said it would stimulate economic growth, experts argue that it has only benefited wealthy Americans.
It increases standard deductions by $1,000 for individuals and $2,000 for married couples until 2028.
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