House GOP Passes Its Reconciled ‘One Big, Beautiful Bill’

On Thursday, House Republicans passed the “one big, beautiful bill” requested by President Donald Trump.

The legislation passed by a razor-thin margin of 215-214, enough to move the measure on to the Senate. If approved by the Senate and signed into law by the president, the bill would:

• Extend some $3.8 trillion in tax cuts by making Trump’s 2017 tax cuts permanent. Those cuts include a reduction of the individual income tax rates, which the House GOP says would save the average American family $1,700 annually.

• Maintain an increased standard deduction, child tax credit and estate tax credit. 

• Enact a series of tax cuts including “no tax on tips,” overtime pay and Social Security benefits.

• Extend paid family and medical leave credit.

• Exempt interest on car loans from taxes. 

• Set a $40,000 cap on the state and local tax deduction, also known as the SALT deduction. It includes an 1% annual increase until 2033. The deduction would be lowered to $10,000 for taxpayers whose adjusted gross income is over $500,000 annually.

• Increase the debt ceiling by $4 trillion. 

• Create a Money account for growth and advancement, or “MAGA account.” It would be a savings account for kids that, in its pilot stage, would place $1,000 in each account for qualifying children. To be eligible, a child would need to be a U.S. citizen at birth, have a Social Security number and be born between Dec. 31, 2024 and Jan. 1, 2029. The accounts would be tax-exempt. 

• Cut Medicaid spending and creates stricter eligibility and work requirements to access the health care program. Initial estimates by the Congressional Budget Office find that these cuts could lower the number of Americans with health insurance by 8.6 million over a 10 year period. 

• Cut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) spending, offloads some benefit costs to states and creates stricter work requirements for eligibility. 

• Cancel multiple green energy programs. 

• Increase spending for mass deportation.

• Increase military spending. 

• Eliminate tax-exempt status for groups the State Department deems are supportive of “terrorists.” 

The bill falls largely in line with the requests made by Trump in his $1.7 trillion 2026 budget proposal he released on May 2. It called on Congress to drastically cut non-defense spending and increase spending for defense and homeland security, including border security.

Trump’s proposal has been a key influence in the GOP’s budget resolution process. Congress does not have to adhere strictly to the president’s wishes, but thus far, this GOP-led Congress has generally followed the president’s lead.

Here’s a recap of how the budget process has played out this year:

• On April 10, the House GOP passed a sweeping budget blueprint that paves the way for Trump’s fiscal plans to become a reality. The measure passed by a razor-thin margin of 216 to 214. 

• The House GOP adopted a framework identical to the one approved by the Senate on April 5, which unlocks a process called reconciliation, which would require only a simple 51-vote majority to pass. The reconciliation process also prevents Democrats from filibustering. 

• On May 22, the House bill passed its reconciled bill. 

The Senate must now reconcile a budget that includes specific details on cuts and revenue sources.

Here’s what was in Trump’s budget framework:

Trump’s proposal is known as a “skinny budget,” in that it’s a summary of his proposals, not the full budget, which includes more comprehensive details.

The biggest cuts on Trump’s wish list include state and international programs (-84%); National Science Foundation (-56%); Environmental Protection Agency (-54%); Housing and Urban Development (-44%); Department of Labor (-35%); Small Business Administration (-33%); Department of the Interior (-30%); Department of Health and Human Services (-26%); and NASA (-24%). Trump instructed additional cuts to the Treasury Department, Department of Agriculture, Department of Commerce, Department of Education and the Justice Department.

The Social Security Administration budget was unchanged.

The only departments to receive funding increases include the Department of Energy (+3%); Department of Veterans Affairs (+4%); Transportation Department (+6%); and Department of Defense (+13%). As mentioned earlier, Trump allocated a 65% increase to the Department of Homeland Security’s budget.

Since Trump took office, he has relied on executive orders and the efforts of his so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, to fulfill his priorities. Those have included downsizing the federal workforce, as well as probing and dismantling certain government departments. Trump has also launched a bevy of tariffs that have sparked uncertainty in the markets and among economists, as well as consumers and business leaders.