President Trump signed his One Big Beautiful Bill Act into law on Independence Day, just one day after Congress sent the massive tax and spending cut package to his desk.
Surrounded by congressional Republicans on the South Lawn during a military picnic at the White House, complete with a flyover of a B-2 stealth bomber and F-35 fighter jets, Mr. Trump signed the 940-page bill and then banged down the gavel that House Speaker Mike Johnson gave him that was used during the bill’s final passage Thursday afternoon.
The president called his centerpiece legislation “the most popular bill ever signed in the history of our country, whether you’re military or anybody else.”
He said the bill “will fuel massive economic growth and lift up the hard-working citizens who make this country run, like the factory workers, farmers, mechanics, waiters, waitresses, police officers, firefighters, coal miners, coal is back.”
Mr. Trump also praised the rebuilding of the military under his watch, saying it is now one of the “most sought-after’ jobs. Now he intends to modernize it, which includes building the Golden Dome missile defense system. The “big, beautiful bill” includes $150 billion for defense, including the Golden Dome.
The bill’s centerpiece is a permanent extension of Mr. Trump’s first-term tax cuts for individuals and small businesses, stopping the biggest tax increase for Americans in modern history.
The bill also includes temporary tax breaks to fulfill Mr. Trump’s campaign promises of no tax on tips, overtime, Social Security and auto loan interest.
Other provisions include energy deregulation and defense and border security priorities as well as cuts to Medicaid and food stamps, known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.
The House passed the bill Thursday by a vote of 218-214. Two Republicans, Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Thomas Massie of Kentucky, voted against the final bill, as did all House Democrats.
The vote was similar in the Senate, where Vice President J.D. Vance had to break a tie so the chamber could pass it on a 51-50 vote.
Both chambers spent more than 24 consecutive hours debating and negotiating, rare congressional all-nighters, before passing the bill, just beating Mr. Trump’s deadline of July Fourth.
The president described the country like a “rocket ship” that will blast off when his tax cuts kick in, and he reveled over the elimination of the estate tax, also known as the “death tax,” on family farms and small businesses.
“We wanted to protect 2 million family farms and other small businesses,” he said. “So if you want to leave your farm or your small business [to] your children … you’re not going to have to go borrow money [after] your parents pass away and the farm goes to the banks and gets foreclosed. That’s not going to happen.”
Mr. Trump boasted about the bill’s passage after kicking off the yearlong buildup to the country’s 250th birthday celebration.
“There could be no better birthday present for America than the phenomenal victory we achieved just hours ago when Congress passed the One Big, Beautiful Bill to make America win again,” Mr. Trump said, adding that the voters gave him a “historic mandate to cut taxes, raise, take home, pay, bring back jobs, stop the invasion.”
• Lindsey McPherson contributed to this story.
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.