WASHINGTON (BN24) — President Donald Trump on Friday signed into law a massive tax cut and spending bill he hailed as a signature domestic achievement, capping months of partisan battles with a Fourth of July celebration steeped in patriotic pageantry.
The White House ceremony unfolded on the South Lawn against a backdrop of military fanfare, including an armed forces picnic and a flyover by a B-2 Spirit bomber and F-35 fighter jets. The event drew jubilant Republican lawmakers, among them House Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana, who helped shepherd the bill through a divided Congress.
“Our country has had so much to celebrate this Independence Day as we enter our 249th year,” Trump said before signing what he dubbed the “big, beautiful bill.” “We have officially made the Trump tax cuts permanent. That’s the largest tax cut in the history of our country,” he declared. “We’re setting all sorts of economic records right now, and that’s before this kicks in. After this kicks in, our country is going to be a rocket ship, economically.”
The Senate narrowly approved the legislation Tuesday in a 51-50 vote, with Vice President JD Vance breaking the tie. The House followed Thursday, passing it 218-214 along mostly party lines, meeting Trump’s self-imposed July Fourth deadline.
As the National Anthem played, the flyover honored pilots involved in last month’s U.S. strike on nuclear facilities in Iran, part of Operation Midnight Hammer. Trump, joined by First Lady Melania Trump, was expected to attend the evening’s fireworks display over the National Mall after visiting his Virginia club earlier in the day.
The legislation fulfills core promises from Trump’s 2024 reelection campaign. It extends the expiring 2017 tax cuts permanently, temporarily reduces taxes on tips and overtime pay, and introduces new deductions on auto loan interest. The bill also authorizes hundreds of billions in military spending and funds Trump’s plans for expanded deportations of undocumented immigrants.
But the cost of those provisions is steep. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the measure will add $3.3 trillion to the national debt over the next decade. It also imposes deep cuts to Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and clean energy initiatives. The CBO projected the Medicaid reductions alone could strip health insurance from nearly 12 million Americans.
The months-long negotiations exposed deep rifts among Republicans over how aggressively to slash safety net programs and whether to lift the cap on state and local tax (SALT) deductions. A push by conservatives to use the legislation to rein in the national debt ultimately gave way to Trump’s demand for sweeping tax relief and new spending.
Democrats uniformly opposed the bill, seizing on its unpopularity to frame it as a gift to the wealthy at the expense of working families. A Quinnipiac University poll released last week showed 53% of registered voters opposed the legislation, with only 27% in favor.
“Not a single thing in Donald Trump’s one big, ugly bill will meaningfully make life more affordable for everyday Americans,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said Thursday in a record-setting nearly nine-hour floor speech. “We were a hell no last week, a hell no this week, a hell no yesterday, a hell no today,” Jeffries said to cheers from his caucus.
Just hours after Trump signed the bill, Republicans signaled they may revisit parts of it. Vice President Vance, who played a central role in brokering the compromise, told reporters in North Dakota the administration remains open to adjustments.
“Trump makes a reform, he sees how it plays out, and he’s always willing to have a conversation in order to make things even better,” Vance said.
