The bill would extend Trump's signature 2017 tax cuts, create new tax breaks for tipped income and auto loans, end many green-energy subsidies and boost spending on the military and immigration enforcement. It would also tighten eligibility for food and health programs that serve millions of low-income Americans.
Lawmakers voted 217-212 to begin a floor debate on the legislation during a rare pre-dawn session that featured choruses of cheers and boos between party members. A single Republican lawmaker, fiscal hawk Thomas Massie, joined Democrats in opposition.
It was not clear that House Speaker Mike Johnson would secure the necessary support from his own narrow 220-212 seat Republican majority.
“We’re in a very good place,“ Johnson told reporters. “I believe we are going to land this airplane.”
After a false start in one congressional committee last week, the legislation cleared another panel late on Wednesday following a marathon session lasting nearly 22 hours in which Democrats filed more than 520 amendments in an unsuccessful bid to alter the proposed legislation.
“We are going to fight back and we are going to fight like hell,“ Democratic Representative Jim McGovern said.
The Medicaid health program for low-income households had proved to be a major sticking point between Republicans, with fiscal hawks pushing for cuts to partly offset the cost of the bill's tax components, which moderate Republicans say would hurt voters whose support they will need in the 2026 midterm congressional elections.
The revisions included imposing work requirements for the Medicaid program at the end of 2026, two years earlier than previously planned. It also penalized states that expand Medicaid in the future and raised the amount of state and local taxes that can be deducted from federal income taxes.
Credit rating firm Moody's last week stripped the U.S. government of its top-tier credit rating, citing the nation's growing debt. U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday amid investor concern about the mounting debt.
Lawmakers will face a far more significant deadline this summer, when the Treasury Department will run out of money to cover its obligations unless Congress raises its self-imposed debt ceiling. Failure could trigger a devastating default.
They argue the bill will pay for itself by stimulating growth. When congressional Republicans were advancing Trump's 2017 first-term tax cuts, they made a similar argument.
During the floor debate, Massie warned that the bill's passage would lead to fiscal disaster for American families.
“We’re not rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic tonight. We’re putting coal in the boiler and setting a course for the iceberg,“ the Kentucky Republican said.
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