WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� House Republicans stayed up all night to pass their , with defying the skeptics and unifying his ranks to muscle priority bill to approval Thursday.
With and stark warnings from Trump, the Republican holdouts largely dropped their opposition to salvage the that's central to the GOP agenda. The House launched debate before midnight and by sunrise the vote was called, 215-214, with Democrats staunchly opposed. It next goes to the Senate.
鈥淭o put it simply, this bill gets Americans back to winning again," said , just before the vote.
The outcome caps an intense time on Capitol Hill, with days of private negotiations and public committee hearings, many happening back-to-back, around-the-clock. Republicans insisted their sprawling 1,000-page-plus package was what voters sent them to Congress 鈥� and Trump to the White House 鈥� to accomplish. They believe it will be 鈥渞ocket fuel,鈥� as one put it during debate, for the .
Trump himself , visiting House Republicans at Tuesday's conference meeting and hosting GOP leaders and the holdouts for a lengthy session Wednesday at the White House. Before the vote, the administration warned in a that 鈥渇ailure to pass this bill would be the ultimate betrayal.鈥�
Central to the package is the GOP's commitment to extending some $4.5 trillion in tax breaks they engineered during Trump鈥檚 first term in 2017, while adding new ones he campaigned on during his 2024 campaign, including , overtime pay, car loan interest and others.
To make up for some of the lost tax revenue, the Republicans focused on changes and the food stamps program, largely by imposing on many of those receiving benefits. There's also a massive from the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act.
Additionally, the package tacks on $350 billion in new spending, with about $150 billion going to the Pentagon, including for the president鈥檚 new 鈥� , and the rest for Trump鈥檚 and border security agenda.
All told, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates 8.6 million fewer people would have health care coverage and 3 million less people a month would have SNAP food stamps benefits with the proposed changes.
The CBO said the tax provisions would increase federal deficits by $3.8 trillion over the decade, while the , food stamps and other services would tally $1 trillion in reduced spending. The lowest-income households in the U.S. would see their resources drop, while the highest ones would see a boost, it said.
House of New York read letters from Americans describing the way the program cuts would hurt them. "This is one big ugly bill,鈥� he said.
As the minority, without the votes to stop Trump's package, Democrats instead offered up impassioned speeches and procedural moves to stall its advance. As soon as the House floor reopened for debate, the Democrats forced a vote to adjourn. It failed.
In 鈥渢he dark of night they want to pass this GOP tax scam,鈥� said Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif.
Other Democrats called it a 鈥渂ig, bad bill鈥� or a 鈥渂ig, broken promise.鈥�
Pulling the package together and pushing it to passage has been an enormous political lift for Johnson, with few votes to spare from his slim GOP majority whose rank-and-file Republicans have conflicting priorities of their own.
Conservatives, particularly from the Freedom Caucus, held out for steeper spending cuts to defray costs piling onto the .
At the same time, more moderate and centrist GOP lawmakers were wary of the changes to Medicaid that could result in lost health care for their constituents. And some worried the phaseout of the renewable energy tax breaks will impede businesses using them to invest in green energy projects in many states.
One big problem had been the costly deal with GOP lawmakers from New York and other high-tax states to quadruple the $10,000 deduction for state and local taxes, called SALT, to $40,000 for incomes up to $500,000, which was included in the final product.
For every faction Johnson tried to satisfy, another would roar in opposition.
Late in the night, GOP leaders unveiled a with a number of revisions.
The changes included speedier implementation of the Medicaid work requirements, which will begin in December 2026, rather than January 2029, and a faster roll back of the production tax credits for clean electricity projects, both sought by the conservatives.
Also tucked into the final version were some unexpected additions 鈥� including a $12 billion fund for the Department of Homeland Security to reimburse states that help federal officials with deportations and border security.
And in a nod to Trump's influence, the Republicans renamed a proposed new children鈥檚 savings program after the president, changing it from MAGA accounts 鈥� money account for growth and advancement 鈥� to simply 鈥淭rump鈥� accounts.
Rep. Erin Houchin, R-Ind., said Americans shouldn鈥檛 believe the dire predictions from Democrats about the impact of the bill. 鈥淲e can unlock the 鈥楪olden Age鈥� of America,鈥� she said, echoing the president鈥檚 own words.
By early morning hours, the chief holdouts appeared to be falling in line. Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., said they 鈥済ot some improvements.鈥�
But Republican, Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, a deficit watcher who had been publicly criticized by Trump, remained unmoved. 鈥淭his bill is a debt bomb ticking,鈥� he warned.
Final analysis of the overall package's costs and economic impacts are still 小蓝视频 assessed.
Along with extending existing tax breaks, it would increase the standard income tax deduction, to $32,000 for joint filers, and boost the child tax credit to $2,500. There would be an enhanced deduction, of $4,000, for older adults of certain income levels, to help defray taxes on Social Security income.
To cut spending, those seeking Medicaid health care, who are able-bodied adults without dependents, would need to fulfill 80 hours a month on a job or in other community activities.
Similarly, to receive food stamps through SNAP, those up to age 64, rather than 54, who are able-bodied and without dependents, would need to meet the 80 hours a month work or community engagement requirements. Additionally, some parents of children older than 7 years old would need to fulfill the work requirements.
Republicans said they want to root out waste, fraud and abuse in the federal programs.
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Associated Press writers Matt Brown and Joey Cappelletti contributed to this report.
Lisa Mascaro, Kevin Freking And Leah Askarinam, The Associated Press
