Did Republicans Just Lose the Majority?

The GOP passes one of the most unpopular pieces of legislation in history

Early Thursday morning, after weeks of horse-trading, the House of Representatives passed Donald Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill” to cut taxes for the rich and pay for it by taking food and health care from the poorest Americans.

The bill is both a policy disaster and a moral monstrosity. It adds trillions to the deficit, defunds Planned Parenthood, guts Medicaid, slashes food stamps, raises costs on millions of families, and gives the richest Americans a massive tax cut.

After the bill passed (even though most Republicans hadn’t had time to read the latest version), Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries declared: “This is the day that the Republicans lost the majority.”

Is he right—and what happens next?

What Happens Next?

This is not the end of the road. The bill now goes to the Senate, where at least some changes are expected. Several Senate Republicans have expressed concern about the Medicaid cuts—this group includes would-be moderates like Susan Collins and performative populists like Josh Hawley.

Republicans hold 53 Senate seats, meaning they can afford to lose just three members and still pass the bill via reconciliation, with Vice President J.D. Vance casting the tie-breaking vote. Senate Majority Leader John Thune is under intense pressure from Trump and House Republicans to avoid making changes. But any substantive revision would force the House to vote again before the debt limit deadline later this summer.

The fight to defeat this bill—or at least scale back some of its most damaging provisions—is not over.

What’s in the Bill?

• A $3.8 trillion extension of the 2017 Trump tax cuts, which overwhelmingly benefit the wealthy.

• Nearly $700 billion in Medicaid cuts, which could cause 8.6 million people to lose coverage.

• $267 billion in cuts to SNAP (food stamps)—kicking 3 million families off assistance and jeopardizing school meals for 18 million children.

• A massive increase in defense spending, plus over $100 billion for Trump’s mass deportation efforts.

• Defunding of Planned Parenthood, via a ten-year block on Medicaid reimbursements.

• Elimination of several clean energy tax credits created by the Inflation Reduction Act.

• Over $300 billion in cuts to student loan programs, including repeals of Biden-era income-driven repayment and forgiveness efforts.

• An extension of the debt ceiling, likely into 2027.

There’s more—some of it still being uncovered. The bill is sprawling, opaque, and was assembled in the most chaotic way imaginable.

But if you remember just one thing, let it be this:

The richest Americans—those making $1 million or more—would get nearly $90,000 in tax breaks each year. The average family earning less than $50,000 would get less than $1 a day.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, by 2027 the bill would increase household resources for the top 10% by 4% while reducing them by 4% for the bottom 10% by 2033. It would also add more than $2.3 trillion to the national debt over a decade and could trigger up to $500 billion in automatic Medicare cuts under budget enforcement rules.

Will This Bill Cost the GOP the House?