Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" passes in Congress

US President Donald Trump's much-discussed "Big Beautiful Bill" has passed its final hurdle. The massive package, which includes tax cuts and reductions in government spending, has now passed both chambers of the US Congress. This is seen as a significant political victory for Trump, although there was intense disagreement within his own Republican Party about the bill.

On Thursday (July 3), the bill passed in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives by a vote of 218-214. It was then signed by House Speaker Mike Johnson.

Earlier, on Tuesday (July 1), the bill passed the Senate with a vote of 51-50. Since the vote was tied, Vice President JD Vance cast the deciding vote in favor of the bill.

In the Senate, 47 Democratic members, along with three Republican members from Trump’s own party, voted against the bill.

However, with the bill passing both chambers of Congress, Trump thanked senior Republican leaders. Once he signs it, the bill will become law.

The bill includes tax reductions, cuts to social security allocations, increased military spending, and additional funding for immigration control. This is essentially an expanded version of the tax-cutting policies Trump initiated in 2017 during his presidency.

Additionally, the bill will reduce the budget for Medicaid health programs and food assistance for low-income citizens by approximately $930 billion (around 93,000 crore BDT). Analysts are concerned that this could result in millions of Americans losing access to health insurance.