The margin was as narrow as possible, but the outcome was a resounding success after an all-night legislative marathon. Donald Trump pulled off the first stage of what may be the most daring political gamble of his term so far, by securing the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB) in the House of Representatives on Thursday, May 22.

Passed by 215 votes to 214, this more than 1,000-page legislative patchwork now heads to the Senate. It covers a wide array of expenditures, from tax policy to funding for mass deportations, as well as allocations to the Pentagon. According to estimates from the Congressional Budget Office, the bill would add $2.4 trillion to the national debt, which already exceeds $36 trillion (€31.9 trillion). This has only heightened nervousness in the markets, which have already been shaken by the White House's erratic tariff policies.

Trump and his supporters were initially reluctant to address so many issues in a single piece of legislation, given the challenge of maintaining party discipline among a narrowly held and internally divided Republican caucus. Ultimately, the president decided to force the issue. He came up with the bill's childlike name; put intense pressure on lawmakers from his camp; and finally relied on Mike Johnson, the speaker, to negotiate last-minute compromises on technical points.

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