The major tax cuts and spending package is expected to raise the federal debt by $3.3 trillion
FILE PHOTO: US President Donald Trump © Global Look Press / CNP / AdMedia
US President Donald Trump has signed a sweeping multitrillion-dollar tax and spending package, dubbed the “Big Beautiful Bill,” into law during a dramatic ceremony at the White House that featured a flyover of American aircraft used in recent bombing raids on Iran.
The signing ceremony took place on Friday, July 4, during an Independence Day picnic hosted by the president for military families. Trump devoted much of his speech to praising the Air Force for conducting “one of the most successful military strikes in all of history,” before shifting focus from military to economic accomplishments.
“As we approach the 250th anniversary of America’s founding exactly one year from now, we are creating an economy that delivers wealth for the middle class, a border that is sovereign and secure, and a military that is unmatched, unequaled anywhere in the world,” Trump declared.
“This bill will fuel MASSIVE economic growth and lift up the hardworking citizens who make this country run… Our country is going to be a Rocketship, economically,” he added.
The ceremony followed a narrow vote in the US House of Representatives, which passed the legislation just a day earlier.
The nearly 900-page bill extends the 2017 tax cuts from Trump’s first term and temporarily reduces taxes on tips and overtime pay. It also allocates hundreds of billions of dollars in new spending for the president’s border and national security agenda, including funds for the US-Mexico border wall and large-scale migrant deportations.
To partially offset the costs, the bill imposes steep cuts to Medicaid, food assistance, and clean-energy subsidies. According to Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates, nearly 12 million Americans will lose Medicaid coverage by 2034, while around 3 million will lose eligibility for food stamps, also known as SNAP benefits.
The CBO further projects that the legislation will raise the national debt by $3.3 trillion over the next decade, as it incurs revenue losses totaling $4.5 trillion while only generating $1.2 trillion in spending cuts. It also includes a provision to raise the national debt ceiling by $5 trillion, allowing further federal borrowing.
Thursday’s House vote, just one day before Trump’s July 4 deadline, followed a tense 24-hour period of internal GOP negotiations. Republican holdouts initially blocked a procedural vote on Wednesday, prompting Trump to personally call lawmakers into the early hours of Thursday to secure support.
Only two Republicans, Representatives Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, ultimately voted against the bill.