Staff article:Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com

By Kathy Wray Coleman, editor, associate publisher

WASHINGTON, D.C. - After passing the Senate on Tuesday, the U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed President Donald Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" (The One Big Beautiful Bill Act) on Thursday, 218-214, with all Democrats voting "no" and all but two Republicans voting "yes." Dubbed a win for the president and Republicans, the reconciliation legislation now heads to the president's desk for his expected signature to become law.

House Republicans broke out with applause after the "yes" votes were read.

Notably, the tax and spending cuts legislation increases the national deficit by some $4 trillion, extends the president's 2017 pro-rich tax cuts, provides for more spending on defense and border security, and makes astronomical cuts to  Medicaid, healthcare initiatives and programs like SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Food Stamps).

Congressional Democrats are up in arms and fought like hell against the bill, including Ohio Congresswoman Shontel Brown and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York. Among other Dems, Brown and Jeffries spoke on the House floor on Thursday before the vote was taken, Brown speaking against cuts to SNAP and Jeffries speaking for 8 hrs., 44 min. in a prolonged effort to win support and delay passage of the bill.

The first Black House minority leader, Jeffries called the bill and its passage by the GOP "a crime scene" that harms Americans.

"House Democrats want no part of this," he said.

Republicans have a three-prong advantage over Democrats and control the U.S. Senate, the House of Representatives, and the White House under President Trump.

The Reconciliation Bill, also known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, includes a $186 billion federal funding cut to SNAP, the largest cut in the program's history. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that some five million Americans will lose SNAP benefits, a disproportionate number of them Black and low-income single mothers.

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com are the most-read Black digital newspaper and blog in Ohio. Tel. 216-659-0473. Email-editor@clevelandurbannews.com