Donald Trump’s tax bill moves ahead as House rebels back down

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Donald Trump’s flagship tax and spending bill moved closer to final congressional approval after Republican holdouts in the House of Representatives agreed to advance the legislation.

The rebellion by a handful of members of Trump’s own party held up the bill’s progress for several hours in an all-night session before the House voted 219-213 to proceed to a final vote later on Thursday.

“We have the votes,” said Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the House. “We’re still going to meet the deadline.”

In a post on his Truth Social network on Thursday morning, Trump hailed what he described as a “great night” and described the legislation as “one of the most consequential Bills ever”.

Several conservative and centrist Republican lawmakers have raised concerns about the legislation that was narrowly approved by the Senate this week and now must be approved by the House before it is signed by Trump.

The legislation, which Trump dubs the “big beautiful bill”, extends vast tax cuts from his first administration, paid for in part by steep cuts to Medicaid, the public health insurance scheme for low-income and disabled Americans, and other social welfare programmes.

The bill would also roll back Joe Biden-era tax credits for clean energy, while scaling up investment in the military and border protection.

Trump, who has set a deadline of July 4 to sign the bill into law, earlier lashed out at the Republican holdouts.

“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!!!,” he said on Truth Social.

With a narrow majority in the House, Republicans can only afford to lose three votes on the bill.

Some in the party are unhappy that the bill — which implements a big chunk of Trump’s domestic agenda — does not go far enough to rein in the US debt, or roll back clean energy subsidies. Others are worried about cuts to healthcare programmes.

Fiscally conservative lawmakers, including many Freedom Caucus members, object to the cost of the legislation, which the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office says will add $3.4tn to the deficit over the next decade.

More moderate members have argued that the cuts to Medicaid, which would strip an estimated 12mn people of their health insurance, are too steep.

The White House has dismissed the CBO’s projections and argued that the bill would more than pay for itself in the long term by generating stronger economic growth.

By 10am on Thursday, it was delaying tactics from the Democrats rather than Republican dissent that was holding up the bill’s progress. Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader, was five hours into a speech attacking the legislation and quoting extensively from people fearful of losing their Medicaid healthcare.