Shreve
Reps. Jefferson Shreve and Erin Houchin, both Republicans representing parts of Bartholomew County, joined their party in backing a multitrillion-dollar tax breaks package that the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said would add to the deficit and result in resources dropping for the lowest-income households, while the highest ones would see a boost.
With last-minute concessions and stark warnings from President Donald Trump, the Republican holdouts largely dropped their opposition to salvage the “One Big Beautiful Bill” that’s central to the GOP agenda, The Associated Press reported.
The House launched debate before midnight and by dawn the vote was called, 215-214, with Democrats staunchly opposed, according to wire reports. Shreve and Houchin voted in favor of the measure, which now goes to the Senate, with long negotiations ahead.
The outcome caps an intense time on Capitol Hill, with days of private negotiations and public committee hearings, many happening back-to-back, around-the-clock, according to wire reports. Republicans insisted their sprawling 1,000-page-plus package was what voters sent them to Congress — and Trump to the White House — to accomplish. They believe it will be “rocket fuel,” as one put it during debate, for the uneasy U.S. economy.
Trump himself demanded action, visiting House Republicans at Tuesday’s conference meeting and hosting GOP leaders and the holdouts for a lengthy session Wednesday at the White House, according to the AP. Before the vote, the administration warned in a pointed statement that failure “would be the ultimate betrayal.”
After the legislation’s passage, Trump posted on social media: “Thank you to every Republican who voted YES on this Historic Bill! Now, it’s time for our friends in the United States Senate to get to work.”
The Senate hopes to wrap up its version by the Fourth of July holiday.
Central to the package is the GOP’s commitment to extending some $4.5 trillion in tax breaks they engineered during Trump’s first term in 2017, while temporarily adding new ones he campaigned on during his 2024 campaign, including no taxes on tips, overtime pay, car loan interest and others.
To make up for some of the lost tax revenue, the Republicans focused on changes to Medicaid and the food stamps program, largely by imposing work requirements on many of those receiving benefits, according to wire reports. There’s also a massive rollback of green energy tax breaks from the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act.
Additionally, the package tacks on $350 billion in new spending, with about $150 billion going to the Pentagon, including for the president’s new “Golden Dome” defense shield, and the rest for Trump’s mass deportation and border security agenda.
All told, the Congressional Budget Office estimates 8.6 million fewer people would have health care coverage and 3 million less people a month would have SNAP food stamps benefits with the proposed changes, according to wire reports.
The CBO said the tax provisions would increase federal deficits by $3.8 trillion over the decade, while the changes to Medicaid, food stamps and other services would tally $1 trillion in reduced spending. The lowest-income households in the U.S. would see their resources drop, while the highest ones would see a boost, it said.
