The final vote was 215-214 with one GOP lawmaker voting “Present.” Only two Republicans broke ranks with the White House to vote against the plan — one of them was U.S. Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Troy.
Davidson, who has chided his own party for months about the need for spending cuts, wrestled with his vote until the bitter end, announcing his decision just moments before the final vote.
“While I love many things in the bill, promising someone else will cut spending in the future does not cut spending,” Davidson said, expressing concerns about Republicans creating even more red ink for Uncle Sam.
“I cannot support this big deficit plan,” Davidson added. The only other Republican to vote against the GOP plan was Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky.
“I agree with Warren Davidson,” Massie said. “If we were serious, we’d be cutting spending now, instead of promising to cut spending years from now.”
Apart from Davidson, Ohio’s delegation split cleanly along party lines.
“It’s a very big win,” said Rep. Mike Turner, R-Dayton, one of nine Ohio Republicans to vote for the bill. “I think it will make a big difference for the economy.”
Turner’s support for Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” had been in doubt in recent days, as the Dayton Republican argued that the original GOP plan wrongly punished federal workers by shrinking their retirement benefits.
“The pensions of federal workers will not be cut to allow tax breaks,” Turner said on Wednesday night after securing two key changes in the bill.
The revised House plan stripped out a GOP requirement for higher contributions by federal employees to their retirement. Also removed was a plan to calculate retirement benefits by using the highest five years of a federal worker’s salary. That will remain at the highest three years of pay.
“This is a victory for fairness and for the federal employees who keep our government running every day,” Turner said.
Ohio Republicans hailed the final House bill, which extends tax cuts expiring at the end of this year and includes a plan to end federal taxes on both tips and overtime pay.
“Our bill will deliver historic relief to American workers and families,” said Rep. Mike Carey, R-Columbus (whose district includes parts of Clark and Miami counties), who was part of late negotiations in the office of House Speaker Mike Johnson.
Every Ohio Democrat voted against the plan, condemning cuts in Medicaid, federal food programs, and ridiculing tax cuts for the rich.
“You’re losing health care to pay for Elon Musk’s tax cuts,” said Rep. Greg Landsman, D-Cincinnati (whose district includes Warren County), as Democrats said the plan would take health care from as many as 14 million people.
The timing of the full House debate, which did not start until after midnight, was a bitter pill for Democrats as well.
“Republicans are trying to throw hundreds of thousands of Ohioans off SNAP and Medicaid in the middle of the night,” said Rep. Shontel Brown, who represents the Cleveland area.
The measure now moves to the Senate, where Republicans are likely to keep the same basic tax cut framework, but change some of the budget-cutting details.
“The big, beautiful bill is a necessity because it cuts $4 trillion in taxes that otherwise would go up on the American people and small businesses,” said Ohio Sen. Jon Husted.
Debate is not expected to begin in the Senate until early June.
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