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GOP megabill to face final gauntlet in House

PRESIDENT TRUMP's “big, beautiful bill” cleared the Senate by the barest margin possible Tuesday, setting up a final uncertain path through the House with the clocking ticking toward a July 4 deadline.

Vice President Vance broke a 50-50 tie in the Senate after a grueling all-night “vote-a-rama,” where momentum for the bill seemed to rise and fall by the hour.

In the end, three Republicans voted against it: Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Thom Tillis (N.C.) cited cuts to Medicaid, while Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) opposed it on spending and debt concerns.

The bill ultimately passed after Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) made concessions to a fourth holdout, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who sought to shield her home state from the full brunt of cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

“This is probably the most difficult and agonizing legislative 24-hour period that I have encountered, and I’ve been here quite a while and you know I’ve got a few battle scars underneath me,” Murkowski said.

Trump received news of the bill’s passage while he was visiting a new migrant detention facility dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” in the Florida Everglades. The president was cheered by his allies during a roundtable discussion.

“Oh, thank you. Wow,” Trump said. “I was also wondering, how we doing because I know this is prime time. It shows that I care about you, because I’m here and I probably should be there, but we do care. Thank you very much.”

It’s big victory for Trump, as it brings his package of tax cuts and border security funding one step closer to final passage, although Democrats are primed to seize on the cuts to Medicaid during the 2026 midterms.

The passage of the megabill marks the largest cuts to the social safety net program since its inception in the 1960s. Federal work requirements will be imposed for the first time.

Democrats will have plenty of ammunition provided by the GOP holdouts.

“My vote against this bill stems primarily from the harmful impact it will have on Medicaid, affecting low-income families and rural health care providers like our hospitals and nursing homes,” Collins said in a statement.

Two days earlier, Tillis gave a scorching floor speech denouncing the Medicaid cuts, shortly before announcing he would retire from Congress.

“The Senate’s Medicaid approach breaks promises and will kick people off of Medicaid who truly need it,” Tillis said.

Trump dismissed the concerns, insisting the cuts deal primarily to waste, fraud and abuse.

“I’m saying [cuts are] going to be a very much smaller number than that and that number is going to be waste, fraud and abuse,” Trump said.

HOUSE BACK IN THE SPOTLIGHT

The bill now heads to the House, where Republicans have been fuming about the big changes made to their bill in the upper chamber.

The House Rules Committee began work on the bill at 1:30 p.m.

Democrats will be looking to delay the process.

“All procedural and legislative options are on the table,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) told reporters.

The same dynamics that have divided Republicans over the monthslong negotiations are still in play, with different factions opposed to the spending, debt levels and cuts to Medicaid and SNAP.

The Hill’s Mychael Schnell captures the dynamic, noting “Moderate Republicans and hardline conservatives in the House are expressing increasing opposition to the Senate’s version of the 'big, beautiful bill'" this week ahead of the lower chamber considering the bill, "a daunting dynamic for GOP leaders as they race to meet their self-imposed Friday deadline.”

Speaker Johnson (R-La.), who shepherded the original bill through the House, said he expects to have the bill on Trump’s desk by July 4.

“Republicans were elected to do exactly what this bill achieves: secure the border, make tax cuts permanent, unleash American energy dominance, restore peace through strength, cut wasteful spending, and return to a government that puts Americans first,” Johnson posted on X.

“This bill is President Trump’s agenda, and we are making it law,” he continued. “House Republicans are ready to finish the job and put the One........

© The Hill