Trump's massive tax bill passes the House of Representatives.

After weeks of division, House Republicans pass 'big, beautiful bill'

Donald Trump speaks with House Speaker Mike Johnson at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday...

WASHINGTON: House Republicans took a major step forward on President Donald Trump's agenda early Thursday (May 22). They approved a legislative package that includes tax cuts, spending cuts, border security funding, and other priorities.

The bill, which House committees have been working on for months, was revised late in the day to win support at the Republican convention. It is more than 1,000 pages long and has been called "a big, beautiful bill of rights," a nod to Trump himself.

Before the bill reaches the House, Republicans have made final amendments, increasing state and local tax deductions to appease moderates who don't believe the bill does enough to control spending.

Here's a look at what's in the legislative package, with more changes expected as it moves to the Senate.

Tax Cuts for Individuals and Businesses

Republicans want to make permanent the personal income and property tax cuts enacted during Trump's first term in 2017 and implement campaign promises to exempt tips, overtime and some car loan interest.

House Speaker Mike Johnson leads Republicans in passing big, beautiful bills.

To partially make up for the lost revenue, Republicans are proposing to more quickly repeal or phase out the Clean Energy Tax Credits passed during Joe Biden's presidency, which would help bring the overall cost of the tax bill down to about $3.8 trillion.

The bill includes a temporary increase in the standard deduction — a $1,000 increase for individuals, bringing it to $16,000 for individual filers and a $2,000 increase for joint filers, bringing it to $32,000. This deduction reduces the amount of income tax owed.

The child tax credit is temporarily increased by $500, bringing it to $2,500 between 2025 and 2028. It will then return to $2,000 and increase for inflation. The estate tax exemption would be increased to $15 million and adjusted for inflation in the future.

One of the most contentious issues in the discussion was how much to increase the state and local tax deduction, which is currently capped at $10,000. This is a priority for New York lawmakers. The bill raises the “SALT” limit to $40,000 for income up to $500,000, with the limit gradually reduced for higher-income earners. In addition, the limits and income limits will increase by 1 percent annually for 10 years.

Several of the provisions Trump promised during the campaign are temporary, lasting for most of his term. The tax deduction for tips, overtime, and car loan interest will expire at the end of 2028. This also applies to the $4,000 increase in the standard deduction for seniors.

Under various business tax provisions, small businesses, including partnerships and S corporations, can deduct 23 percent of their eligible business income from their taxes. The deduction has been reduced to 20 percent.

Businesses will be temporarily allowed to fully deduct domestic research and development costs and the cost of machinery, equipment and other eligible assets. This encourages businesses to invest in ways that increase their productivity.

Food assistance faces work requirements for parents and older Americans

House Republicans would cut the cost of food assistance, known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, by about $267 billion over 10 years.

House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks with other House Republican leaders after passing the budget reconciliation legislation at the U.S. Capitol on May 22, 2025...

Starting in fiscal year 2028, states would pay 5 percent of the cost of benefits and 75 percent of the administrative costs. Currently, states pay no benefits and pay half of the administrative costs.

Republicans are also increasing the work requirement to receive food assistance. Under current law, healthy adults without dependents must meet the work requirement until age 54, and under the bill, that would change to age 64.

In addition, some parents are currently exempt from the work requirement until their children are 18; this would change so that only people caring for dependent children under age 7 would be exempt.

And New Work Requirements for Medicaid

A centerpiece of the package is a nearly $700 billion cut in spending on the Medicaid program, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

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To qualify for Medicaid, healthy adults without dependents will have a new “community involvement requirement” of at least 80 hours of work, education or service per month. The new requirements will take effect on December 31, 2026. People will have to verify their eligibility for the program twice a year, instead of just once.

Republicans are seeking to create savings through the new work requirements. But Democrats have warned that millions of Americans will lose coverage.

According to initial estimates from the nonpartisan CBO, the proposals would reduce the number of people receiving health care by 8.6 million over the decade.

No tax on gun silencers, no money for Planned Parenthood, and more

Republicans are also using this package to reward allies and hurt political enemies.

The package would repeal a $200 tax on gun silencers imposed by Congress since the National Firearms Act was passed in 1934. The repeal is supported by the National Rifle Association.

Mike Johnson speaks to the media after the House passed a bill to advance President Donald Trump's agenda...

Giffords, a group that works to reduce gun violence, said silencers make it harder to detect gunshots and identify the source of the gun, which hinders law enforcement's ability to respond to active shooters.

Republicans are also trying to cut off Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood, which provides abortion care. Democrats say cutting off funding for the organization would make it harder for millions of patients to get cancer screenings, Pap tests, and birth control.

"Trump" kids have $1,000 savings accounts

The bill originally called for "MAGA" accounts, an acronym for Trump's signature line "Make America Great Again." But in a last-minute amendment, the bill changed the name to "Trump" accounts.

For parents or guardians who open new Trump accounts for their children, the federal government will contribute $1,000 for children born between January 1, 2024, and December 31, 2028.

Families can contribute $5,000 a year, with account holders not taking distributions until they turn 18. Then, they can get up to 50 percent of the money for higher education, training, and first-time home purchases. At age 30, account holders can access the full account balance for any purpose.

Funding for Trump's Mass Deportation Campaign

The legislation would allocate $46.5 billion to rebuild Trump's wall on the U.S.-Mexico border and more money for deportation programs.

Trump's big beautiful bill overtakes the House..

That includes $4 billion to hire 3,000 additional border patrol agents and 5,000 new customs officers, and $2.1 billion in signing and retention bonuses. It also includes funding for 10,000 more immigration and customs enforcement officers and investigators.

That includes major changes to immigration policy, including imposing a $1,000 fee on asylum seekers — something the country has never done and is similar to a handful of other countries, including Australia and Iran.

Overall, the plan is to remove 1 million immigrants annually and place 100,000 people in detention centers.

More Money for the Pentagon and Trump's "Golden Dome"

The Defense Department and national security have been allocated nearly $150 billion in new funding.

It will provide Trump's "Golden Dome for America," $25 billion for a long-awaited missile defense shield, $21 billion to replenish the nation's ammunition stockpile, $34 billion to expand the fleet by building more ships, and nearly $5 billion for border security.

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That includes $9 billion to improve the quality of life for service members, including housing, health care, and special pay.

Taxing college scholarships and student loan reform

The key to the legislation is a wholesale overhaul of the student loan program, which would result in $330 billion in budget cuts and savings.

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The proposal would replace all existing student loan repayment plans with just two: a standard option with a monthly repayment period of 10 to 25 years, and a “loan repayment assistance” plan that is generally less generous than the plan it replaces.

Among other changes, the bill would repeal Biden-era rules that made it easier for borrowers to cancel their loans if their colleges cheated or suddenly closed.

Some college scholarships would be taxed at up to 21 percent.

More mining, quarrying on public land

For revenue purposes, a portion would allow for extended leases of public land for mining, quarrying, and logging, and would clear the way for more development by speeding up government approvals.

The rate of royalties that companies pay for oil, gas and coal extraction would be reduced, reversing Biden’s efforts to reduce the use of fossil fuels to combat climate change.