US politicians narrowly approve 'big, beautiful, bill'

Newshour

BBC

News, Daily News

4.4 • 984 Ratings

🗓️ 3 July 2025

⏱️ 47 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The US House of Representatives has narrowly approved President Trump's budget bill, despite the Democratic leader in the House delaying the vote for more than eight-and-a-half hours with a marathon speech. The bill aims to slash spending on social welfare programs while increasing funds for border-related operations. We hear from a former senior Immigration and Customs Enforcement official.

Also in the programme: Gaza doctor Marwan al-sultan is killed; and the interstellar comet moving through our solar system

(Picture: A view of the US Capitol Building at dawn, in Washington, DC, USA, 03 July 2025. Credit: EPA)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to News Hour from the BBC World Service. I'm Rob Young. We are coming
0:08.3	to you live from London. Within the past hour and a half, US politicians have finally
0:13.8	approved Donald Trump's controversial plans for tax cuts and spending his one big beautiful
0:20.2	bill. On this vote, the Yaser 218, the Naser 214, the motion is adopted.
0:35.6	That was the moment the bill passed, announced by the House Speaker, Republican Mike Johnson.
0:41.2	President Donald Trump has overcome opposition from within his own Republican Party to ensure that his key, sweeping policy agenda is enacted.
0:49.2	The Big Beautiful Bill, which is its official name, was described as a big, ugly bill by the opposition leader, Democrat Hakeem Jeffries, who spoke for eight hours and 44 minutes, a record-breaking speech for the U.S. House of Representatives.
1:05.2	He stopped talking within the past couple of hours.
1:08.0	Press on for all who aspire to be part of the middle class. Press on for the
1:12.9	poor. Press on for the sick. Press on for the afflicted. Press on for the least. Press on for the
1:20.9	lost. Press on for the left behind. Press on for the rule of law. Press on for the American way of life. Press on for democracy.
1:30.3	We're going to press on until victory is won.
1:35.3	I yield back.
1:40.3	Well, like that speech, the session of the House of Representatives that debated the plans was a marathon one.
1:46.5	Politicians, many of them yawning, made speeches through the night, through breakfast and well after lunch.
1:52.9	Our correspondent, Arunade Mukherjee, was watching the proceedings in the US Congress building.
1:57.8	The final vote tally was tight, so was there a lot of arm-twisting from President
2:02.2	Trump to get this passed? Absolutely, and that's exactly what we saw for a majority of yesterday,
2:08.6	where Speaker Mike Johnson, as well as President Trump at the White House, they tried to
2:12.9	make those conversations and try to convince some of those Republicans, especially the ultra-conservative
2:19.5	Republicans from the House Freedom Caucus, who had flagged several concerns. So that was a large
2:24.7	part of the day, which extended to the wee hours of this morning, of Thursday morning, where they
	...

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