With a push from President Donald Trump, House Republicans sent a GOP budget blueprint to passage Tuesday, a step toward delivering his “big, beautiful bill” with $4.5 trillion in tax breaks and $2 trillion in spending cuts.
The narrow passage came despite a wall of opposition from Democrats and discomfort among Republicans.
House Speaker Mike Johnson had almost no votes to spare in his bare-bones GOP majority and was fighting on all fronts — against Democrats, uneasy rank-and-file Republicans and skeptical GOP senators — to advance the party’s signature legislative package.
Trump was making calls to wayward GOP lawmakers and had invited Republicans to the White House.
The vote on Friday night, which initially appeared bound for a delay, was 217-215, with all Democrats opposed, and the outcome was in jeopardy until the gavel. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., wound up the lone GOP vote against.
“On a vote like this, you’re always going to have people you’re talking to all the way through the close of the vote,” Majority Leader Steve Scalise said before the roll call. “It’s that tight.”
After passage, Johnson and other House Republican leaders issued a joint statement:
“Today, House Republicans moved Congress closer to delivering on President Trump’s full America First agenda — not just parts of it.
“This momentum will grow as we work with our committee chairs and Senate Republicans to determine the best policies within their respective jurisdictions to meet budgetary targets. We have full confidence in their ability to chart the best path forward.
“While there is still much more to do, we are determined to send a bill to President Trump’s desk that secures our border, keeps taxes low for families and job creators, restores American energy dominance, strengthens America’s standing on the world stage, and makes government work more effectively for all Americans.”
Among the provisions, the measure increases the debt ceiling, and extends Trump’s signature tax cuts, while also providing funds for border security and national defense initiatives of the current administration.
