Every member of Utah’s congressional delegation voted to pass President Donald Trump’s domestic policy agenda, which could lead to an estimated 188,000 Utahns losing health insurance and an increase of the national deficit by more than $3 trillion.
The final vote on the “Big Beautiful Bill” in the U.S. House of Representatives — cast around 48 hours after the Senate narrowly passed the sprawling 870-page bill — was 218-214, as all 212 Democrats in the chamber, along with two Republicans, voted no.
Utah Reps. Blake Moore, Celeste Maloy, Mike Kennedy and Burgess Owens joined their Republican colleagues voting in favor of the legislation Thursday afternoon.
Moore, Utah’s only member of Congressional leadership, said in a statement he wished the final bill — which is estimated to cost $1 trillion more than the original House version — had preserved some of the original spending cuts, but he was thrilled by the bill’s ultimate passage.
“Preparation for this bill has dominated the past 18 months of my life, and while I wish the Senate had been able to keep more of the spending cuts proposed in the House version, I couldn’t be more excited to make permanent the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,” Moore said Thursday. “This is what the vast majority of this bill is about and it will have significant positive impacts on individuals, families and small businesses.”
Moore added that he understood the “angst about changes to the Medicaid process,” but said he believed “these sound, structural changes will strengthen this program going forward for the people it’s intended to serve: low-income pregnant mothers, children, seniors and those with disabilities.”
Kennedy said in a statement that he was “happy” to support the bill.
“As a physician, I have seen the value of Medicaid in the lives of Utah families, and having benefited from food assistance programs as a child, I understand the critical role these programs play,” the statement read. “However, to ensure their sustainability, we must act responsibly. This bill introduces work requirements for able-bodied adults, encouraging self-reliance through employment while preserving Medicaid for pregnant women, the disabled, and the elderly.”
Maloy and Owens did not respond to requests for comment on their votes and the bill’s passage, but took to social media to celebrate.
Maloy, who represents Utah’s 2nd Congressional District, said in a post that the bill is “a return to common sense and accountability.”
The legislation “secures our border and strengthens our national security,” she said, adding that it “restores American energy independence and invests in rural communities.”
Owens, in a statement posted on X, said he “proudly voted for the One Big Beautiful Bill to deliver historic relief to families, students, workers, and seniors in Utah’s Fourth District.”
“This bill includes the largest middle-class tax cut in our nation’s history, the first permanent pathway to universal school choice that I was proud to help secure, and an economic lifeline for hardworking Americans, including no tax on tips, overtime, or Social Security,” he added.
Trump is expected to sign the bill on Friday, July 4.
The House originally passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on May 22 by just one vote. All four members of Utah’s U.S. House delegation voted yes on the bill’s initial passage.
But after weeks of negotiations and changes in the Senate, where dozens of amendments were debated and voted on, the House was required to agree on the changes before sending the legislation to the Oval Office.
Ahead of the floor vote, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York spoke for more than eight hours against the bill, breaking the record for the longest House floor speech, while he derided the legislation and outlined the many rejected amendments offered by Democrats.
The bill will balloon the national deficit by $3.4 trillion over the next decade, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projected this week — $1 trillion more than the original House version of the bill.
The CBO also estimates that 11.8 million people could lose health coverage under the bill, while a Washington Post assessment released Tuesday was even higher, estimating that the health insurance of some 17 million Americans was at risk.
In Utah, according to an estimate done by the Congressional Joint Economic Committee’s Democratic staff released Monday, the changes to Medicaid and the ACA under the Senate bill could put the health coverage of more than 188,000 people at risk.
The bill also extends tax cuts originally passed during the first Trump administration, an expansion of the Child Tax Credit, funds the military and provides additional federal money for border security.
Gov. Spencer Cox thanked Utah’s all-Republican delegation for voting in favor of the bill.
“Today’s passage of the budget bill is a win for Utah families: it delivers meaningful tax relief, invests in energy abundance, and, thanks to bipartisan teamwork, preserves every state’s freedom to craft commonsense AI safeguards,” he posted.
Sen. Mike Lee’s effort to sell off federal public lands across the West was killed this past weekend after the senator, facing bipartisan disapproval and pressure from the outdoor recreation community, rescinded the proposal.
Sen. John Curtis fought to secure a number of changes to energy credits, including, among other things, the removal of a proposed new tax on solar and wind projects and the elimination of a ban on solar leasing, his office said.
And Utah Republicans in the Legislature and on the congressional delegation fought to kill an amendment that would have put a 10-year moratorium on states from regulating artificial intelligence.
Note to readers, July 4, 3:50 p.m. • This story has been updated to include a statement from Rep. Mike Kennedy.
