House Passes Trump’s Budget Plan Slashing $880 Billion From Medicare To Pay For Tax Cuts

On Tuesday night, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives approved a budget framework supported by GOP leadership and President Donald Trump. All Democrats opposed but were outnumbered in a 217-215 vote nearly along party lines. The bill for Trump’s agenda will likely extend Trump’s 2017 tax cuts and boost defense spending in exchange for trillions in spending cuts, mainly from Medicare, the government health program for the poor.

The bill’s advancement sets the stage for Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” which includes $4.5 trillion in tax breaks and $2 trillion in spending cuts. Last Thursday, Democrats brought pages of amendments to the Senate floor, requiring an end to DOGE’s slashing of the federal workforce and changes on border security and deportations. 

After launching the debate, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Washington) said, “They are looking at our most pressing problems and making them so much worse. And this budget proposal will only add fuel to the fire.”

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon), the top Democrat on the Budget Committee, floated the term “Trumpflation” in an overnight session last week and asked what in the president’s “big, beautiful bill” would help Americans.

“Take this plan and put it in the ‘woodchipper,'” Merkley said, echoing Elon Musk‘s remark about chopping up the federal government. “There’s nothing ‘beautiful’ about destroying programs families depend on.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson and Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-Texas), the House GOP’s budget committee chair, led the effort to win over the House. Johnson indicated the vote might be delayed amid some opposition that could block its passage. The plans to call a vote on the bill were abandoned Tuesday evening, then brought lawmakers back to the floor over an hour after the original set time. As he walked to the floor for the bill’s passage, Johnson told reporters, “There’s no Plan B. This is the plan we’re running.”

Trump said the bill’s passage is a “Big First Step Win for Speaker Mike Johnson, and AMERICA” in a Truth Social post, calling on Congress to “start to BALANCE THE BUDGET,” while insisting “IT CAN BE DONE!!!”

The resolution sets overall targets that House committees must follow when drafting legislation to establish a spending framework for Trump’s agenda across different government sectors they oversee. The Energy and Commerce Committee, responsible for Medicaid policy, is assigned the task of identifying $880 billion in cuts, prompting concerns among some Republicans that cuts will come mainly from Medicaid funding.