Politics
JUST IN: ‘Big, Beautiful’ Budget Passes The House In Massive Win For Trump
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) pulled off the nearly unthinkable Thursday morning, securing passage of a budget that absorbs most of the changes left in place by U.S. Senate Republicans.
The 216-214 vote saw just two Republicans — Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Victoria Spartz (R-IN) — break with colleagues to pass President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful” tax package, a key priority that Johnson has been tasked with shepherding through amid an ongoing tariff war.
It represents a significant win for the second-term GOP leader and underscores his skill at corralling some of the GOP’s wiliest figures, including Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) and other fiscal hawks who publicly complained about how the bill would add to the deficit.
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The bill, soon to be signed into law by President Trump, will serve as the GOP’s blueprint for slashing federal spending on top of the cuts brought about by the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency, which continues its crusade to save a predicted $1 trillion in its first year.
President Trump spent the final days of negotiations calling hesitant lawmakers in a bid to extend his signature 2017 tax cuts. Although the spending will not be entirely paid for, he and Johnson have promised to partially cover the cost through deep cuts to the federal workforce.
Fiscal conservatives are believed to have secured promises by Johnson to slash at least $1.5 trillion from the government’s FY2026 budget, though Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) stopped short of endorsing that figure on Thursday morning.
“We have got to do something to get the country on a more sustainable fiscal path,” Thune told the New York Times, adding that his “ambition in the Senate” was “aligned with the House in terms of what their budget resolution outlines.”
“We have a lot of United States senators who believe that is a minimum,” he said.
Trump, for his part, isn’t doubting his administration’s ability to find the savings needed to pay for the bill.
“Congratulations to the House on the passage of a Bill that sets the stage for one of the Greatest and Most Important Signings in the History of our Country. Among many other things, it will be the Largest Tax and Regulation Cuts ever even contemplated. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” he wrote on Truth Social shortly after passage.
Look to Trump and Johnson pointing to economic data and tariff negotiations as a sign that the U.S. can support greater spending on record-breaking tax cuts. On Thursday the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the Consumer Price Index hit its lowest rate since July of 2022 while a better-than-expected jobs report for March showed that employers are bullish about hiring in the fourth month of Trump’s presidency.
Tariffs, meanwhile, have brought at least 70 countries to the negotiating table, administration officials announced on Wednesday. In response, President Trump pared back most increases to 10% across the board, leaving in place a 125% tariff on China.
