President Donald Trump came one, big, beautiful step closer to achieving his legislative agenda for 2025 as the Senate passed 51 to 50 the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on July 1 in time for the President’s July 4 self-imposed deadline. The bill now moves back to the House where it will either go to a conference committee for final revisions or just be passed as is.
In a joint statement by House leaders including House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), Republicans promised quick action to get the bill across the finish line: “The House will work quickly to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill that enacts President Trump’s full America First agenda by the Fourth of July. The American people gave us a clear mandate, and after four years of Democrat failure, we intend to deliver without delay.”
The statement added, “This bill is President Trump’s agenda, and we are making it law. House Republicans are ready to finish the job and put the One Big Beautiful Bill on President Trump’s desk in time for Independence Day.”
The legislation fulfills the signature promises President Trump made on the campaign trail in 2024 that swept him back into the White House and enabled Republicans to secure House and Senate majorities: No income taxes on tips and overtime, tax cuts for seniors collecting Social Security, making the 2017 Trump tax cuts permanent, 100 percent expensing for factories to produce products in America, finishing the border wall and boosting immigration enforcement.
This stands in stark contrast to what the President was able to achieve in his first term when Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell particularly were unable to deliver the southern border wall or repeals of Obamacare.
The bill was opposed by three Senate Republicans: Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who faces a tough reelection battle in 2026, Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) who will be retiring and Rand Paul who refused to vote to increase the debt ceiling. Their votes, it turned out, were unnecessary after a last-minute save by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Vice President J.D. Vance who got the bill across the finish line.
You could say it was one, big, beautiful compromise.
The Senate parliamentarian all but stripped a provision that would have “reduce[d] the FMAP for the Medicaid expansion to 80 percent in expansion States that provide State-funded coverage to aliens who are not qualified aliens,” thereby removing 1.4 million illegal aliens from Medicaid after it was found extraneous and required instead 60 votes for passage, where it failed 56 to 44.
But then, as reported by Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) in a July 1 post on X, the provision was added back in by Senate leaders: “Yesterday, there were a lot of rumors floating around about the ban on Medicaid for illegal aliens being stripped from the bill. Thankfully, that’s not true. It’s very much in the bill we just passed. You can look it up below. Page 602. Section 77109.”
Sure enough on page 602, section 77109 in the bill that passed, the provision is back in there, stating in part, “in no event shall payment be made to a State under this section for medical assistance furnished to an individual unless such individual is… a resident of 1 of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, or a territory of the United 25 States; and … either… citizen or national of the United States; … an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence…; … an alien who has been granted the status of Cuban and Haitian entrant…; or … an individual who lawfully resides in the United States in accordance with a Compact of Free Association…”
In any event, it is already illegal for illegal immigrants to collect public benefits including Medicaid, and so it will be up to President Trump and the Departments of Health and Human Services, Homeland Security and Justice to work with states to enforce the provision to remove those ineligible from the rolls. The legislation also does much to see to their deportation, which also guarantees they no longer are able to steal from taxpayers.
Now, in the House, Republicans have just three votes to spare after barely passing the House version 215 to 214 on May 22 after a couple members slept through the early morning vote. Now, with the help of some additional coffee and energy drinks, hopefully, everyone will be present when the bill comes up for final passage.
On Air Force One on July 1, President Trump said in a press gaggle that the bill was “ahead of schedule” and now, with the wind at his back, the President’s legislative agenda is closer than ever to being enacted. It’s about time.
Robert Romano is the Executive Director of Americans for Limited Government.
Correction, 7/1/2025 5:11 p.m. EST: The provision removing 1.4 million illegal aliens from the Medicaid rolls was put back in the bill.
