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Moore, Miller back Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ in early morning vote

Bill could see changes in the U.S. Senate

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill early Thursday morning keeping President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax cuts in place, but other items in the bill could see changes once it gets to the U.S. Senate. (Photo by Steven Allen Adams)

CHARLESTON — President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” fiscal package is on its way to the U.S. Senate after West Virginia’s delegation in the U.S. House of Representatives voted in favor of the bill in an early morning vote Thursday.

The House passed H.R. 1, named the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, in a 215-214-1 vote just before 7 a.m. Thursday after a day was spent Wednesday by the White House and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., trying to get members of the fiscal conservative House Freedom Caucus on board with the bill.

“Today, the House passed generational, nation-shaping legislation that reduces spending, permanently lowers taxes for families and job creators, secures the border, unleashes American energy dominance, restores peace through strength, and make government work more efficiently and effectively for all Americans,” Johnson said in a statement Thursday.

“This is arguably the most significant piece of legislation that will ever be signed in the history of our country,” Trump said in a social media post Thursday.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, getting its name from Trump, is a budget and spending reconciliation package which continues the 2017 tax cuts that went into effect during Trump’s first term and were set to expire at the end of 2025. The bill also includes nearly $1.5 trillion in spending cuts through various methods, including work requirements for Medicaid benefits and the elimination of several tax credits made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act.

Both 1st District Congresswoman Carol Miller, R-W.Va., and 2nd District Congressman Riley Moore, R-W.Va., voted in favor of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

“Seventy-seven million Americans demanded generational change in November,” said Moore, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, in a statement Thursday. “Today, House Republicans delivered on that mandate from the American people. Our One Big Beautiful Bill delivers major victories for the American people.”

“I rise today in strong support of One Big Beautiful Bill,” said Miller, a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, during a floor speech. “Ways and means Republicans have worked tirelessly for two years traveling across America and hearing from real people about the impact of the 2017 Trump tax cuts had on them… This One Big Beautiful Bill builds on all of that successful tax policy and then some.”

“I congratulate Congressman Moore and Congresswoman Miller for their efforts,” said U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., during a call with reporters Thursday afternoon. “We look forward to receiving it over here on the Senate side.”

The bill includes several provisions aimed at priorities of the White House and congressional Republicans. The bill would eliminate taxes on tips and overtime pay, as well as allow for deductions on overtime pay and loan interest on automobiles. It also locks in an existing child tax credit.

Among other provisions, the bill increases funding for border enforcement along with raises for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol officers, funding for a new missile defense system, a bigger state-and-local-tax (SALT) deduction, and an increase in the debt ceiling. Moore laid out some of the bill’s provisions in a House floor speech around 2 a.m. Thursday.

“The bill makes America energy dominant again by repealing the Democrats’ disastrous green new scam, expediting permitting, and unleashing all-of-the-below (energy). That’s the ground: coal, oil, and natural gas,” Moore said. The legislation makes America safe again by building the wall, giving needed resources to enforce our immigration laws and rebuild our military. We also make America prosperous again by providing the largest tax cut in history, including no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, slashing taxes on Social Security.”

However, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act would increase the national debt by $2.3 trillion over a 10-year period as the bill now stands. Work requirements for Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program could see may low-income families removed from those programs.

“Despite the pain tens of thousands of West Virginia families will face as a result, the cuts to critical programs only partially offset the sweeping tax giveaways to the nation’s wealthiest households, and overall, the package adds trillions of dollars to the national debt,” said Kelly Allen, executive director of the left-of-center West Virginia Center for Budget and Policy, in a statement Thursday.

“Despite deep public opposition to cuts to Medicaid and SNAP, West Virginia’s House members, Rep. Carol Miller and Rep. Riley Moore voted against West Virginians and in favor of the largest cuts to SNAP and Medicaid in history,” Kelly continued. “Make no mistake–these cuts are deeply unpopular with the majority of West Virginians, who will hold those who vote for them accountable.”

West Virginia Democratic Party Chairman Del. Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, criticized House Republicans Thursday for rushing through changes to the bill and the vote in a matter of hours between Wednesday evening and Thursday morning.

“In the West Virginia Legislature, there’s an old saying: ‘fat possums run at midnight.’ It means the worst legislation gets passed while people are home asleep in their beds,” Pushkin said. “That’s what happened here. Trump’s bill passed by one vote — in the dead of night — and Moore and Miller helped to shove it through.”

The bill’s next stop is the U.S. Senate, where the bill is expected to undergo several changes. The reconciliation process will allow the bill to be taken up with a simple majority vote instead of the 60-vote cloture usually needed, avoiding a filibuster by the Senate Democratic caucus. But Senate reconciliation rules – named for the late West Virginia U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd – could see some House Republican priorities dropped from the bill.

Capito – chairwoman of the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee – said she was pleased by many of the items included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, including the Trump tax cuts, funding for border security, and the rollback of Inflation Reduction Act provisions. But she acknowledged that the bill would go through changes in the Senate, including making sure eligible West Virginians keep their Medicaid benefits and protecting SNAP benefits.

“I’m excited about what I see,” Capito said. “Is it precisely what I would write? No, but I think that’s why we bring it to the Senate, and we work it through our processes.”

Lawmakers set a self-imposed July 4 deadline to pass the reconciliation package, with the debt limit needing to be raised by mid-July, otherwise a separate debt ceiling bill may need to be passed.

Steven Allen Adams can be reached at sadams@newsandsentinel.com

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