The US Congress approves Trump's economic plan that dismantles the public health system.
The House Democratic leader breaks the record for the longest speech, at nearly nine hours, to delay the vote.
BarcelonaThe United States House of Representatives approved this Thursday The macro-budget project that increases the country's public debt and cuts health coverage for more than 11 million citizens. Donald Trump thus claims victory over the Big Beautiful Bill, the law that could define his second term and that outlines his priorities: it plans to cut taxes by around $4.5 trillion, increase funding for the military and border security, and cut the Medicaid health program by up to $1 trillion. In return, it increases the public debt by $3.3 trillion. The US president must now sign the law for it to become effective.
The tax plan has been approved in the House of Representatives with 218 votes in favor and 214 votes against, after it was approved in the Senate on Tuesday, thanks to the tie-breaking vote of Vice President JD Vance. In Thursday's vote, Republicans could only afford three withdrawals from their ranks, and ultimately, only two broke with the party line.
Early Thursday morning, Republicans had secured the minimum number of votes needed to overcome the procedural vote, which allowed the bill to finally be voted on in the House of Representatives for final approval. But the Trump administration had to fight hard, especially within its own ranks, to achieve this victory. During the marathon session that stretched from early Wednesday to Thursday, the Republican tycoon convinced the majority of conservative legislators with insistent calls that they did not agree with the text and that they had threatened to shoot it down.
Conservative MPs' criticisms were directed primarily at the increased debt implied by the budget law, which the most reluctant view as a lack of fiscal responsibility. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the bill could add $3.3 trillion to the fiscal deficit over the next 10 years, adding to the $29 trillion US debt.
More than eight hours of speeches to delay the vote
Congressmen finally voted this Thursday, ahead of Trump's deadline for passing the bill, which fell on Friday, July 4th, coinciding with Independence Day. Democrats lacked the necessary majority in either chamber, the House of Representatives or the Senate, to halt the bill. Therefore, in a desperate attempt to halt its passage and in an act of protest, Democratic Representative Hakeem Jeffries delivered the longest speech ever delivered in the chamber, surpassing the previous record of eight hours. "I intend to take my time," the congressman warned at the beginning of his speech, in which he used the so-called "magic minute" to try to delay the vote.
House tradition dictates that the Minority Leader—the spokesperson for the opposition in Congress—can extend their speaking time if they deem it necessary, and that's what Jeffries did, attacking what he considers "a gift to the wealthy at the expense of less wealthy Americans." "This disgusting abomination is not going to improve the quality of life of the American people," he said. "The goal of this bill, the justification for all the cuts that will hurt everyday Americans, is to provide massive tax breaks for billionaires," he asserted.
The budget bill is central to Donald Trump's agenda and includes many of the promises the president made during the election campaign, particularly regarding tax cuts. The Big Beautiful Bill plans to extend the corporate tax cuts he himself approved during his first term in 2017; implement new requirements for access to Medicaid and other social programs; withdraw incentives for investments that promote the fight against climate change, and allocate a larger budget for border militarization.
These measures involve reversing the policies of previous Democratic presidencies: Barack Obama's Obamacare—officially called the Affordable Care Act—and Joe Biden's climate change mitigation measures in the so-called Inflation Reduction Act. In fact, the reduction in funding for social benefits will be one of the largest the country has experienced since the 1990s.