The Republican House of Representatives passed President Trump’s sprawling bill of deep cuts in spending and taxes early Thursday by a 215-214 mostly party line vote.
The ultra-narrow win for the bill, which hikes the deduction for state and local taxes to $40,000, came after Speaker Mike Johnson won over right-wing fiscal hawks and a small group of rebels from the New York suburbs who demanded the higher SALT cap.
“This is arguably the most significant piece of legislation that will ever be signed in the history of our country,” Trump gushed on his social media site after the vote.
Now the One Big Beautiful Bill goes to the GOP-controlled Senate where it will likely undergo more controversial changes under the complex reconciliation process aimed at skirting a Democratic filibuster.
Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries denounced the bill in a fiery early morning speech and vowed that voters would make Republicans pay at the ballot box in next year’s midterm elections.
“The GOP tax scam rips healthcare and food assistance from millions in order to provide tax cuts to the wealthy,” Jeffries said.
All 212 Democrats voted against the bill along with two hardline Republican fiscal hawks who were not satisfied with concessions Johnson made to win the support of other right-wingers.
One GOP lawmaker voted present and two more didn’t vote, including Long Island Rep. Andrew Garbarino, who dozed off at the Capitol after the all-night debate leading to the final vote.
The bill raises the SALT cap to $40,000 a year for taxpayers making up to $500,000. That’s an increase from the current $10,000 annual cap.
Republican lawmakers from high-tax blue states, especially in the New York suburbs, ran for election promising to increase the SALT cap by much greater amount, or allow it to expire altogether.
They claimed victory, even as Democrats slammed them for selling out their constituents.
“I’m proud to have quadrupled the cap on SALT, which will bring tax relief to so many New York families,” Rep. Mike Lawler (R-New York) tweeted after voting for the bill.
The bill extends some $4.5 trillion in breaks from Trump’s signature 2017 tax cut, while temporarily adding new ones he campaigned on during his 2024 campaign, including no taxes on tips, overtime pay, car loan interest and others.
It slashes spending especially on Medicaid, which provides health coverage to tens of millions of lower-income and disabled Americans. An estimated 8.5 million will lose coverage due to the cuts, analysts estimate.
There’s also a massive rollback of green energy tax breaks from the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act.
The package tacks on $350 billion in new spending, with about $150 billion going to the Pentagon, including for the Trump’s proposed “Golden Dome” missile defense shield, and the rest for Trump’s mass deportation and border security agenda.
Fiscal conservatives panned the measure as a debt bomb and the bond market signaled major concerns as yields on U.S. treasury bills rose sharply, a sign of concern over untamed deficits.
