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By Sonam Sheth
Evening Politics Editor
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Some Republicans broke ranks and joined every House Democrat in voting against the "big, beautiful bill" for which President Donald Trump and House GOP leadership spent weeks wrangling votes.
The critical reconciliation bill narrowly passed the House on Thursday morning by a vote of 215-214, marking a major legislative victory for Trump, who championed the huge tax breaks, spending cuts and additional funding for immigration enforcement and border security included in the plan.
The Context
The passage of the GOP-backed bill comes after weeks of back-and-forth in which House Speaker Mike Johnson attempted to secure votes from Republicans in competitive districts who had concerns about constituents losing critical benefits, and from the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus, which called for further budget cuts.
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For each bloc of Republicans Johnson managed to appease, he risked alienating another.
Before Thursday's vote, Johnson and Trump met at the White House with a group of GOP holdouts, aiming to convince them to vote in favor of the bill. The House speaker emerged from the meeting confident that it would pass, telling reporters at the Capitol on Wednesday, "I believe we're going to land this airplane. The 'America First' agenda is wrapped up in this one big, beautiful bill."
Which Republicans Voted Against Trump's Bill?
The House of Representatives has 220 Republicans and 212 Democrats, meaning that Johnson could only afford to lose three GOP votes heading into the floor vote.
The spending bill's fate was still uncertain heading into the vote, with some House Freedom Caucus members signaling that they were hard no's from the onset, while other Republicans who were initially opposed later flipped their votes and supported the measure.
Here are the Republicans who voted against the Trump-backed bill:
- Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky.
- Representative Warren Davidson of Ohio.
Representative Andy Harris of Maryland, the chair of the House Freedom Caucus, voted "present." Two Republicans, Representatives David Schweikert of Arizona and Andrew Garbarino of New York, did not vote.
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Trump's bill, called the "One Big, Beautiful Bill Act," includes a temporary boost in the standard tax deduction—a $1,000 increase for individuals, bringing it to $16,000 for individual filers, and a $2,000 boost for joint filers, bringing it to $32,000.
The measure also includes a $500 increase in the child tax credit, bringing it to $2,500 for the next three years. It will then revert to $2,000 and increase to account for inflation.
The bill cuts spending on the Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program by roughly $267 billion over 10 years and introduces new work requirements to qualify for the food benefits.
It also introduces additional work requirements for people seeking Medicaid, which Democrats say could result in millions of older Americans and those with disabilities losing health coverage.
What People Are Saying
Massie unleashed on his fellow Republican colleagues while negotiations were still underway, writing on X, formerly Twitter: "Major provisions of the big beautiful bill are still being negotiated and written, yet we are being told we will vote on it today. Shouldn't we take more than a few hours to read a bill this big and this consequential?"
Massie added in a follow-up post: "It's in our rules that we will have 72 [hours] to read every bill. Yet it's been circumvented this week by a 'manager's amendment' which substantially changes the bill but should only contain technical clarifications."
What Happens Next
The bill now heads to the Senate, where it will almost certainly be significantly changed as several Senate Republicans have expressed opposition to the Medicaid cuts in the measure that they say would harm their constituents.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
Update 5/22/25 7:25 a.m. ET: This story has been updated with additional information.
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