Bill Enacting President Trump’s Agenda On Verge of Passing Congress, Ready to Be Signed into Law
The House is on the verge of passing President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” allowing the President to meet his self-imposed July 4th deadline to sign the massive $3.4 trillion package enacting much of his agenda into law.
Through the overnight hours Wednesday into Thursday, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) worked to convince skeptical Republicans to get on board, including members of the Freedom Caucus who are upset that the Senate legislation would add additional money to the deficit. President Trump also worked to convince members on the fence as the Senate bill would add $3.4 trillion to the debt over ten years, about a trillion more than the initial House version.
The speaker held a procedural vote open for hours, until enough votes were secured. It worked as the procedural vote went through, clearing the way for final passage.
“We worked on this a long time, a lot of thoughtful work went into this, and even though the Senate modified some of our product, the extraordinary things in this bill are so important, most of our agenda is wrapped up in this legislation,” said Speaker Johnson. “So it must pass.”
The bill makes President Trump’s 2017 tax cuts permanent. It also eliminates federal taxes on overtime, a key issue for the law enforcement community.
To pay for the tax cuts, significant reductions are being made to spending on Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), an issue that prompted outrage from Democrats as well as some moderate Republicans.
Immigration Enforcement
The legislation also includes provisions to dramatically expand immigration enforcement.
It includes a more than $150 billion infusion of cash for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP): $45 billion for building new detention facilities, $46 billion for constructing a border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, and $14 billion for deportation operations. ICE will also receive funding to hire an additional 10,000 agents by 2029.
The legislation also caps the number of immigration judges at 800 and imposes a $100 fee for those applying for asylum.
Federal Workforce Provisions Stripped
It’s also important to note that nearly all the provisions targeting federal retirement benefits and civil service protections were removed from the final legislation.
That means the mandatory rise in contribution rates in exchange for civil service protections is out as are restrictions on union time and a filing fee to appeal a case to the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB). The removal of these comes after the Senate parliamentarian said most of the federal workforce provisions violated the Byrd Rule, which aims to prevent the inclusion of provisions that are “extraneous” to the federal budget. The only provision that remains is for OPM to conduct an audit for the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program as well as $100 million in funding for the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to find “budget and accounting efficiencies.”
Democrats Line Up in Opposition
The bill received no Democratic support. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) spoke for over four hours on the House floor, lambasting the bill.
“It is so extraordinary that in the middle of the night, Americans face a bill that will target their health care,” said Representative Jeffries.