Donald Trump's 'big beautiful bill' with cuts to Medicaid and stamps is passed

Donald Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' has been passed but for many Americans they will be hit hard with cuts to public spending including for Medicaid.

In a late night legislative session, House Republicans secured the passage of Trump's colossal bill, swaying crucial GOP sceptics to back the highly controversial legislation. The vote was tight at 218-214, with a handful of Republicans standing firm against changing their votes to yes, despite intense persuasion from House Speaker Mike Johnson but the bill is now en route to Trump's desk for his signature, neatly aligning with his ambitious Fourth of July target date.

Supporters of the bill, predominantly Republicans, are championing the tax reductions as a bulwark against tax increases for families and a catalyst for economic expansion.

READ MORE: Inside the torture camp where Donald Trump accidentally deported dad to be abused

READ MORE: Donald Trump sent chilling warning by Vladimir Putin over Russia's invasion of Ukraine

They assert their commitment to recalibrating welfare programmes such as SNAP, Medicare, and Medicaid to better serve their original target groups – expectant mothers, the disabled, and children – while simultaneously eliminating what they describe as rampant inefficiencies and corruption.

The bill's passage marked a significant achievement for the president and it is set to become a defining feature of Trump's second administration while it is testament to his strength, with Republicans holding majority or control over both the House and the Senate, as well as the Executive Branch. Even the Supreme Court majority leans conservative.

The bill essentially overturns Democratic policies from Trump's predecessors. It fundamentally rejects the agendas of the previous two Democratic presidents, Barack Obama and Joe Biden. It chips away at the Medicaid expansion of Obama's Affordable Care Act and rolls back Biden's climate strategies in the Inflation Reduction Act.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries spoke for over eight hours in protest of the spending bill. He recited letters and testimonies from constituents who argued that the bill would negatively affect their lives.

Critics have labelled the bill "ugly" due to its trillions in tax breaks and spending reductions, particularly because it proposes significant cuts to Medicare and Medicaid.

Potentially, the proposed reductions to Medicaid might affect any of the 80 million Americans dependent on it, while anticipated cutbacks to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programme (SNAP), better known as food stamps, could adversely influence some of the 40 million beneficiaries.

Jeffries passionately protested the SNAP cuts, asserting they would "rip food from the mouths of hungry children, hungry veterans and hungry seniors".

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has forecasted that the proposed financial plan will swell the national deficit by a staggering $3.3 trillion over the coming decade, leaving an estimated 11.8 million individuals without health insurance.

To counterbalance the shortfall in tax revenue and to bankroll Trump's stringent immigration policies and his ambitious "Golden Dome" defence initiative across the States, the government is set to make cuts amounting to $350 billion, earmarked as crucial for national security.

The Tax Policy Centre, an impartial tax and budget policy body, has calculated that under the new legislation, the poorest fifth of Americans could see a tax reduction of $150, the middle fifth could benefit from a $1,750 cut, and the wealthiest quintile might enjoy a substantial $10,950 reduction.

At the same time, analysis of many of the federal and local tax breaks in the bill reveals half of the $4.7 trillion (£3.7 trillion) in relief going to the top 1 per cent of earners.

Many House Republicans were awake into the early hours as party leaders and Trump himself laboured to convince the dissenters to withdraw their objections.

The House Speaker was adamant that the House would meet the holiday deadline after the Senate narrowly approved the bill earlier in the week - it required a tiebreaker vote by Vice President JD Vance to pass it.

Emerging from a series of late-night, closed-door meetings, Johnson declared: "Our way is to plough through and get it done. We will meet our July 4th deadline."

The legislation came under fire for embodying what critics called "trickle-down cruelty," claiming it was a tax boon for the affluent at the expense of society's most disadvantaged.

Even within the Republican ranks, there was notable dissent against the bill, seeing numerous Senators distancing themselves from the proposal, ultimately leading to a need for Vance's decisive tie-breaker vote. The razor-thin margin in the House did not come as a surprise, considering the Republicans' slender lead with a 220-212 advantage.