WASHINGTON () House Republicans are sprinting toward a final vote on President Donald Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill,” after it narrowly passed in the Senate on Tuesday.
The tax and spending cuts package was secured in a 50-50 split, broken by Vice President JD Vance.
Now, Republican leaders are hoping to expedite a final vote before the July 4 deadline. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has promised swift action, and a final vote could occur as early as Wednesday.
But with only a small margin for error, some Republicans have already signaled they won’t support the bill.
Discontent emerges over ‘big, beautiful bill’
A moderate House Republican, speaking anonymously to partner The Hill, said that “everyone is complaining,” and “no one is happy with the Senate version.”
The bill faces hurdles in the House from Republicans who are still uneasy about the Senate’s final changes.
Some Republican lawmakers have remained skeptical, particularly regarding spending and health care provisions, including Medicaid changes.
As House lawmakers prepared to weigh in on the legislation, Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, told “Morning in America” on Tuesday that the bill would burden future generations with debt.
“Does the Senate have no conscience?” he asked. “Are we going to put all of this spending on our children and grandchildren in terms of the debt? No, I’m not pleased.”
The Congressional Budget Office has suggested the measure would increase the federal deficit and leave a greater number of Americans without health insurance over the next decade.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Ralph Norman, R-S.C., have publicly announced their plans to vote against the bill.
Trump urges House GOP to unite behind ‘big, beautiful bill’
Trump remained optimistic Tuesday that he would sign the bill by Friday and continued to urge Republicans to rally behind the legislation.
“We can have all of this right now, but only if the House GOP UNITES, ignores its occasional ‘GRANDSTANDERS’ (You know who you are!), and does the right thing, which is sending this Bill to my desk,” Trump wrote on social media. “The American People need and deserve it. They sent us here to, GET IT DONE!”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has said Democrats will use every legislative tool available, potentially setting up hours of debate before any final vote.
House vs. Senate versions of ‘big, beautiful bill’
Republicans have said the legislation is crucial ahead of a potential massive tax increase in December, when tax breaks from Trump’s first term are set to expire. The legislation contains about $4.5 trillion in tax cuts.
The existing tax rates and brackets would become permanent under the bill. It would temporarily add new tax breaks that Trump campaigned on, including no taxes on tips, overtime pay, the ability to deduct interest payments for some automotive loans, and a $6,000 deduction for older adults who earn no more than $75,000 a year.
Before Tuesday’s Senate vote, a provision was added that would provide $10 billion annually to rural hospitals for five years, or $50 billion in total. The Senate bill had originally provided $25 billion for the program, but that number was upped to win over holdout GOP senators and a coalition of House Republicans warning that reduced Medicaid provider taxes would hurt rural hospitals.
Altogether, the Congressional Budget Office has projected the bill would increase federal deficits over the next 10 years by nearly $3.3 trillion from 2025 to 2034. Or not, depending on how one does the math.
Senate Republicans are proposing a unique strategy of not counting the existing tax breaks as a new cost because those breaks are already “current policy.” Republican senators say the Senate Budget Committee chairman has the authority to set the baseline for the preferred approach.
Under the alternative Senate GOP view, the bill would reduce deficits by almost half a trillion dollars over the coming decade, the CBO said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
