Conservatives Unite With Democrats to Stall Trump’s ‘One, Big, Beautiful Bill’

In a surprising setback, President Trump’s One, Big, Beautiful Bill has stalled, failing to get through the House Budget Committee

After the bill passed through the House Ways and Means Committee along party lines, a handful of conservatives from the House Budget Committee joined all Democrats, and the vote failed 16-21.

The expansive bill, now at 1,116 pages, proposes several key updates to the qualified opportunity zone program, along with other tax reform priorities, such as making the Section 199A qualified business income deduction permanent at 23%. Certain “hard-right” Republicans have insisted on steeper spending cuts to Medicaid and other programs in order to offset the costs of the tax breaks, which they have said would add to the nation’s $36 trillion debt. Republican opponents have also stated that they want the new work requirements for aid recipients to begin immediately, as opposed to Jan. 1, 2029, which is the current proposal.

Another point of contention is the state and local tax, or SALT, reduction cap. The current draft includes a $30,000 SALT deduction cap for individuals earning under $400,000. Lawmakers from high-tax states, like New York, are pushing for a deeper tax deduction, however. One counterproposal from New York includes a deduction of $62,000 for single filers and $124,000 for joint filers.

“This is always what happens when you have a big bill like this,” said Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.). “There’s always final details to work out all the way up until the last minute. So we’re going to keep working. There’s a lot of work to be done.”

Democrats have consistently panned the bill, claiming that the wealthiest Americans will benefit from enormous tax cuts while millions of other people will lose their health coverage, all while the federal deficit grows. Several amendments have been proposed by Democrats, but all have been shot down.

The Republicans who voted against the bill include Reps. Chip Roy of Texas, Ralph Norman of South Carolina, Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma, Andrew Clyde of Georgia, and Lloyd Smucker of Pennsylvania.

While the bill has stalled for now, House Speaker Mike Johnson is pushing to have the bill approved by Memorial Day, and holdout Republicans have vowed to continue to negotiate on changes. If conservatives are able to unite, Democrats will be unable to stop the bill, as the Republicans hold a slim House majority. If the bill is able to pass through the House, it will then move on to the Senate, where Republicans also hold a slim majority.

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