Republicans celebrate as Trump's ‘Big, Beautiful Bill' passes in House
The legislation features sweeping cuts to Medicaid and nutrition assistance programmes.
It also extends the 2017 tax cuts and includes funding for 10,000 new Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and 3,000 Border Patrol agents.
Mr Trump has set a loose deadline of 4 July to sign the bill into law.
Watch the video in full above
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
7 minutes ago
- The Guardian
‘A dark day for our country': Democrats furious over Trump bill's passage
Democrats have erupted in a storm of outrage over the passage of the Donald Trump's budget bill, delivering scathing critiques that offered signs of the attack lines the party could wield against Republicans in next year's midterm elections. Party leaders released a wave of statements after the sweeping tax and spending bill's passage on Thursday, revealing a fury that could peel paint off a brick outhouse. 'Today, Donald Trump and the Republican party sent a message to America: if you are not a billionaire, we don't give a damn about you,' said Ken Martin, the Democratic National Committee chair. 'While the GOP continues to cash their billionaire donors' checks, their constituents will starve, lose critical medical care, lose their jobs – and yes, some will die as a result of this bill. Democrats are mobilizing and will fight back to make sure everybody knows exactly who is responsible for one of the worst bills in our nation's history.' The bill's narrow passage in the House on Thursday, with no Democratic support and only two no votes from Republicans – which came from Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania – is 'not normal', wrote congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Ocasio-Cortez highlighted the contradictions in the bill that Democrats can be expected to campaign on over the next two years, pitting its spending on immigration enforcement against the loss of social benefits for working-class Americans. She noted that Republicans voted for permanent tax breaks for billionaires while allowing a tax break on tips for people earning less than $25,000 a year to sunset in three years. She also noted that cuts to Medicaid expansion will remove tipped employees from eligibility for Medicaid and remove subsidies for insurance under the Affordable Care Act, and reduce Snap food assistance benefits. 'I don't think anyone is prepared for what they just did with Ice,' Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Bluesky. 'This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion – making Ice bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, [the] DEA and others combined. It is setting up to make what's happening now look like child's play. And people are disappearing.' Many critics referred to choice remarks made by Republicans in the run-up to the bill's passage that displayed an indifference to their voters' concerns. Senator Mitch McConnell was reported by Punchbowl News to have said to other Republicans in a closed-door meeting last week: 'I know a lot of us are hearing from people back home about Medicaid. But they'll get over it.' And Republican senator Joni Ernst, of Iowa, speaking at a combative town hall in Parkersburg in late May, responded to someone in the audience shouting that people will die without coverage by saying, 'People are not … well, we all are going to die' – a response that drew groans. Cuts to Medicaid feature prominently in Democratic reaction to the bill. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib described the bill as 'disgusting' and 'an act of violence against our communities'. She said: 'Republicans should be ashamed for saying, 'Just get over it' because 'We're all going to die.' They are responsible for the 50,000 people who will die unnecessarily every year because of this deadly budget.' 'There is no sugarcoating this. This is a dark day for our country,' wrote senator Raphael Warnock. 'Republicans in Washington have decided to sell out working people. As a result, millions will lose their healthcare and many millions more will see their premiums go up. Rural hospitals and nursing homes across Georgia will be forced to close. Children will be forced to go hungry so that we can give billionaires another tax cut.' But budget hawks on the left and the right have taken issue with the effects this budget will have on the already considerable national debt. 'In a massive fiscal capitulation, Congress has passed the single most expensive, dishonest, and reckless budget reconciliation bill ever – and, it comes amidst an already alarming fiscal situation,' wrote Maya MacGuineas, the president of the oversight organization Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, in reaction to the House's passage of the bill. 'Never before has a piece of legislation been jammed through with such disregard for our fiscal outlook, the budget process, and the impact it will have on the wellbeing of the country and future generations.' 'House Republicans just voted – again – to jack up costs, gut health care, and reward the elite with tax breaks,' wrote the House Majority Pac, a Democratic fund. 'They had a chance to change course, but instead they doubled down on this deeply unpopular, toxic agenda. They'll have no one to blame but themselves when voters send them packing and deliver Democrats the House majority in 2026.' 'Republicans didn't pass this bill for the people,' wrote Jasmine Crockett, a Texas Democrat. 'They passed it to please Trump, protect the powerful and push cruelty disguised as policy.'
Reuters
15 minutes ago
- Reuters
Trump celebrates tax bill victory at Iowa fairground rally
DES MOINES, IOWA, July 3 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump took a victory lap in friendly territory on Thursday, celebrating passage of his massive tax-cut and border security bill among supporters at the Iowa State Fairground. Trump flew to the state, which voted for him by large margins during the last three presidential elections, directly after the U.S. House of Representatives passed his 'big, beautiful bill' and sent it to his desk to be enacted into law. 'Every major promise I made to the people of Iowa in 2024 became a promise kept,' Trump told the crowd of thousands at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines. By visiting the state Trump was reinforcing his image as a president who delivers on his promises, especially to his rural and conservative base. Trump said he will sign the bill at a White House ceremony on Friday, the Independence Day holiday in the United States and the deadline he had set for Congress to approve the mammoth piece of legislation. The measure will give Trump billions of dollars to press forward with his domestic agenda, ramping up migrant deportations and cutting taxes while rolling back health benefits and food assistance. 'This bill includes the largest tax cut in American history, the largest spending cut in American history, the largest border security investment in American history,' Trump said. The package will add $3.4 trillion to the nation's $36.2 trillion debt, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. The passage of the bill marked weeks of arm twisting by Trump and his allies in Congress to convince skeptical Republicans to push through the bill on a rapid timetable. It was part of a string of victories for Trump in recent days, including convincing Iran and Israel to agree to a ceasefire after the United States struck Iran's nuclear sites last month. Trump lambasted Democrats in Congress for voting against the measure, which passed on party-line votes in both chambers. He attributed that to Democrats hating him. 'But I hate them too," he said. Trump said the vote will make for campaign fodder during next year's midterm elections, when control of Congress will be at stake. Some Republicans worry that deep cuts to the Medicaid health program in the bill will hurt the party's prospects in the 2026 midterm elections. The president said the bill will bolster his already aggressive immigration enforcement and deportation efforts but again pledged to work with farms and hotels concerned about a thinning labor force. Trump's trade policies have whipsawed agricultural communities in Iowa, creating economic uncertainty and testing loyalties. Iowa farmers have been hit hard, especially with China's retaliatory tariffs slashing soybean exports and prices. Reuters spoke to five attendees at the rally who said they braved the sweltering heat to show support for Trump. Most praised his handling of immigration and grocery prices. Despite widespread media coverage, only one of the five was aware of the existence of the tax-cut bill and praised it for giving Trump more resources for immigration enforcement.
Sky News
19 minutes ago
- Sky News
Flight cancellations, Trump and the arcade game inspired by cricket
Ryanair chief Michael O'Leary claims families are being 'held to ransom' as French air traffic controllers walk out over staff shortages and equipment. It's resulted in hundreds of flight cancellations. There's victory for Donald Trump as the House of Representatives passes his multi-trillion-dollar package that cuts taxes and spending. Analyst Chris Beauchamp explains the likely impact. Andy Waugh, co-founder of the cricket-inspired arcade game Sixes, announces an expansion of the popular franchise.
