President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax and spending bill, dubbed the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” encountered major setbacks in the House of Representatives on Wednesday, despite a marathon effort by the White House and Republican leadership to unify the party ahead of a July 4 deadline.
The legislation narrowly cleared an initial procedural vote, 220-212, strictly along party lines. However, a second critical vote failed after five Republicans, primarily from the party’s fiscally conservative wing, broke ranks and refused to support the motion to advance the bill, placing its future in serious doubt.
House Speaker Mike Johnson and President Trump spent hours lobbying holdout lawmakers, with the first vote held open for over seven hours. But their behind-the-scenes push fell short, dealing a blow to the administration’s timeline to move the bill to a final vote before the holiday recess.
An exasperated Trump took to his Truth Social platform shortly after midnight, venting:
“Largest Tax Cuts in History and a Booming Economy vs. Biggest Tax Increase in History, and a Failed Economy. What are the Republicans waiting for??? What are you trying to prove??? MAGA IS NOT HAPPY, AND IT’S COSTING YOU VOTES.”
The bill, which narrowly passed the Senate on Tuesday after intense debate, includes several of Trump’s major domestic policy goals: extensions of the 2017 tax cuts, stricter immigration enforcement, and steep reductions in federal social programs. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects it would add $3.4 trillion to the national debt over the next decade, while slashing $900 million from Medicaid and rolling back green energy incentives.
Democrats have remained firmly opposed. “This bill is catastrophic. It is not policy, it is punishment,” said Representative Jim McGovern (D-MA) during House debate.
With a slim 220-212 majority, Speaker Johnson can afford only three GOP defections. But members of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, led by Representative Andy Harris (R-MD), have voiced strong opposition over the bill’s price tag and structure.
“He knows I’m a ‘no,’” Harris told reporters. “He knows that I don’t believe there are the votes to pass this rule the way it is.”
Despite public optimism earlier in the day from Republican Whip Tom Emmer, who promised a vote and debate would proceed, the internal resistance has thrown the legislation into limbo.
The measure also includes a provision to raise the debt ceiling, a politically sensitive component amid mounting concerns about U.S. default risks. Trump met personally with several Republican lawmakers at the White House to shore up support, but lingering concerns about Medicaid cuts and ballooning deficits continue to hinder consensus within the GOP.
According to the CBO, the proposed changes to Medicaid could result in up to 12 million Americans losing health coverage, a figure that Democrats have seized on to argue that the bill benefits the wealthy at the expense of working families.
With time running out and any House amendments requiring another Senate vote, chances of passing the legislation before Independence Day appear increasingly slim.
For now, Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” remains stalled—highlighting deep divisions within the Republican Party, challenging the former president’s legislative influence, and putting a cloud over the future of his flagship economic agenda.
