By Brendan Scanland
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today marked a major victory for President Donald Trump as the House of Representatives cleared the final hurdle for the “Big, Beautiful Bill” by passing it Thursday afternoon.
Democrats warn the repercussions will be felt by Americans for generations, while Republicans are hailing the bill as one of the largest legislative victories in years.
“I believed in this vision. I believed in this group. I believe in America,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.).
The House passed the president’s massive tax and spending cut legislation with a 218-214 vote. The bill is now ready for the president’s signature.
The fate of the bill remained uncertain Wednesday night and into early Thursday morning, as a handful of Republicans voted against a key procedural motion to advance the bill—stalling the House for hours.
Speaker Johnson, with the help of President Trump, was able to secure enough votes to overcome the procedural hurdle early Thursday, followed by final passage—despite lingering uncertainty and a record-breaking, more than eight-hour floor speech from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.).
“I’m going to take my time and ensure that the American people fully understand how damaging this bill will be to their quality of life,” said Jeffries. “This reckless Republican budget is an immoral document.”
Jeffries criticized Republicans for rushing to pass the more than 900-page bill and for including controversial changes to Medicaid and food assistance programs, which are expected to affect millions.
While Democrats remained united in opposition, many Republicans described it as one of the most significant pieces of legislation in modern history.
“This was a transformational piece of legislation. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity,” said Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-Pa.). “I don’t think there’s been a piece of legislation like this, if ever, or at least in a very, very long time.”
“I think that what we proved today, we can put something back into play. Americans don’t have to worry about their taxes going up,” said Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.).
When asked whether he’s concerned about the thousands of Medicaid beneficiaries in his district at risk of losing coverage—and whether it could hurt the slim Republican House majority in the 2026 midterms—Kelly said:
“I think what we’ve always been concerned with, and this is not just this time, but over the years, all I heard about was waste, fraud and abuse,” said Kelly. “What we’re talking about- in order for the benefits to stay stable, we’ve got to eliminate the waste, fraud and abuse. That’s all we’re doing.”
The only two House Republicans who did not vote for the bill were Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Brian Fitzpatrick of Southeastern Pennsylvania.
We asked Rep. Thompson, the dean of the Pennsylvania congressional delegation– the longest-serving member from the Commonwealth– about Fitzpatrick’s surprise “no” vote.
“We have not talked,” said Thompson. “And as dean of the delegation, I look forward to sitting down with Brian to find out why. I don’t agree with his vote, but I’m looking forward to—if he’s interested in talking.”
Thompson also chairs the House Agriculture Committee, which oversaw some of the bill’s more controversial reforms to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). He said some changes will begin immediately after the bill is signed.
“I think some of them will be immediate. Obviously, the state share—there’s going to be a two-year period of implementation. States will have an opportunity to be able to clean up its methodology that it uses, like Pennsylvania needs to do that,” said Thompson. “Last year was a 17% error rate, this year, 11% error rate. Pennsylvania has been under 6% at some points. Under 6% would have a zero cost share,” he added.
The bill is set to be signed into law by President Trump on Friday, July 4, during a special ceremony at the White House.
