Washington — House Republicans made a number of last-minute changes to the legislation containing President Trump’s second-term agenda in order to win over opposing factions in the GOP. And, after an all-night session, the measure, entitled the “one big, beautiful bill,” squeaked through by a single vote.
It’ll now go to the Senate, which will leave its own mark on the bill. But here’s what’s in the legislation that was passed by the House Thursday.
Tax cuts and extensions
At the center of the legislation — and accounting for its biggest expense — are the provisions extending Mr. Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. With the cuts slated to sunset at year’s end, the extension and new tax cuts have been a key priority for congressional Republicans and the White House.
Beyond the 2017 tax cuts, the legislation includes a number of tax cuts that the president touted on the campaign trail. It includes no taxes on tips for workers in the service industry, like those who work at restaurants and bars, as well as people who work in the beauty industry. But it’s a temporary exemption that expires at the end of 2028. The package also includes no taxes on overtime through 2028. And the new legislation would allow tax deductions on up to $10,000 in interest on auto loans for cars assembled in the U.S. This provision would be in place until 2029.
The bill would also eliminate a longstanding $200 tax on gun silencers, which has been on the books since Congress passed the National Firearms Act in 1934.
And among the bill’s provisions is a temporary $500 increase in the child tax credit, bringing it to $2,500 through 2028.
The package also includes a tax on remittances, imposing a tax on cash payments sent by non-U.S. citizens to family members in their home countries. Though the bill initially would have subjected individuals to a 5% excise tax, the managers amendment, which contained the updates to the bill, lowered the tax to 3.5%.
Medicaid restrictions
The legislation includes changes to Medicaid, a popular entitlement program that provides government-sponsored health care for low-income Americans — imposing work requirements for able-bodied adults without children, more frequent eligibility checks, cutting federal funds to states that use Medicaid infrastructure to provide health care coverage to undocumented immigrants and banning Medicaid from covering gender transition services for children and adults.
The amendment speeds up the implementation of the work requirements from Jan. 1, 2029, to no later than Dec. 31, 2026, a change sought by hardliners. The work requirements would apply to Medicaid recipients without disabilities between the ages of 18 and 65, and those who do not have a child under the age of 7.
Increasing the State and Local Tax Deduction, or SALT
Also included in the package is an increase to the cap on the State and Local Tax Deduction, which was imposed by the 2017 Trump tax law and currently stands at $10,000.
Before the rule, taxpayers could deduct all their state and local taxes from their federal taxes, which some policymakers have said mainly benefits wealthy homeowners in states with high taxes, such as New York and California. But advocates for increasing the caps argue that the $10,000 cap is increasingly impacting middle-class homeowners who live in regions where property taxes are rising.
The package initially included a $30,000 cap, but blue-state Republicans threatened to withhold their support, and they ultimately reached an agreement with leadership to increase the deduction to $40,000 per household for incomes up to $500,000.
Border security funding
Though the bulk of the funding allocated in the legislation goes toward tax cuts, it also includes resources for border security and defense. Among the bill’s provisions is $46.5 billion for the border wall, $4.1 billion to hire Border Patrol agents and other personnel and more than $2 billion for signing and retention bonuses for Border Patrol agents. It also includes an additional $1,000 fee for people who are filing for asylum in the U.S.
The amendment to the legislation added an additional $12 billion for expenses related to border security.
$1,000 “Trump accounts” for child savings
The legislation also creates $1,000 savings accounts for children, which were originally titled “MAGA accounts” — Money Accounts for Growth and Advancement. The name has been updated to “Trump accounts.” Under the plan, the federal government will contribute $1,000 to the accounts of children born between 2024 and 2028. Parents can contribute up to $5,000 a year. The funds, which can begin to be distributed once the child turns 18, can be used for higher education, job training and the purchase of their first home.
While income on the accounts can grow on a tax-deferred basis, distributions for qualified expenses, like those mentioned above, would be taxed at a long-term capital gains rate. Another type of education savings vehicle, 529 accounts, enables parents to save and grow the accounts on a tax-deferred basis, too, but the money can be withdrawn for specific education-related expenses tax-free.
Restrictions on food stamps
The package also raises the upper age requirement for able-bodied adults without children to qualify for benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP, or food stamps. Currently, in order to qualify, able-bodied adults between 18-54 must meet work requirements. The House bill would update the age requirement to 18-64 and would also shift more of the costs to states.
Rolling back clean energy programs
The bill would also roll back some of the clean energy tax credits under the Biden-era climate and health care law, like an earlier phasing out of a tax break for clean energy vehicles. A late addition to the bill would move up the timeline to end tax credits for new renewable energy power plants as well, requiring them to begin construction within 60 days of the enactment of the legislation and be in service by the end of 2028. The measure makes an exception for nuclear plants, which must be under construction by the end of 2028.
Addressing the debt limit
With a major deadline to address the debt limit on the horizon, the legislation would raise the debt ceiling by $4 trillion.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has urged Congress to address the debt limit by mid July, warning that the U.S. could be unable to pay its bills as soon as August without action. Congressional Republicans added the debt ceiling to the larger budget package to bypass negotiating with Democrats on the issue, since the budget legislation can move forward in the Senate without support from across the aisle.
Kaia Hubbard is a politics reporter for CBS News Digital, based in Washington, D.C.
The post What’s in Trump’s House-passed “one big, beautiful bill” appeared first on CBS News.
