The House of Representatives recently approved President Donald Trump’s significant legislation, with Mike Johnson pushing forward after a late-night session. He managed to sway some conservative members who were initially hesitant about the bill.

The final vote tallied 218 in favor and 214 against, sending tax and immigration reforms to the president for his signature on Thursday afternoon. Interestingly, two Republicans, Thomas Massey from Kentucky and Brian Fitzpatrick from Pennsylvania, sided with House Democrats to oppose the bill.

Massey, who had previously opposed the bill during its first passage, expressed his discontent, saying it “wasn’t as beautiful as I would vote for it” after casting his “no” vote.

This successful vote followed an extensive eight-hour speech by House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, setting a record for the longest speech in the House’s history opposing the president’s key proposal.

In reaction, Mike Johnson noted that “it takes longer to explain a lie than to tell the truth,” during his speech before the final vote.

Given the narrow majority of 220-212, Johnson could only afford to lose a few GOP votes. Members from the House Freedom Caucus, who had previously rejected the Senate’s version of the bill due to concerns over the fiscal deficit, ultimately supported it after some last-minute assurances from the White House.

While the exact commitments from the White House to the Freedom Caucus were not fully disclosed, a few holdouts mentioned that Trump’s commitment to strictly enforce solar and wind tax credits led them to back the bill.

The House did not modify the Senate-amended version of the bill since both the White House and House GOP leadership aimed to ensure its passage ahead of the President’s July 4 deadline.

This success represents the culmination of about 15 months of effort by Congressional Republicans to draft and pass the Budget Settlement Bill, navigating various challenges during the budget settlement process. Johnson, alongside Senate Majority Leader John Tune, was able to steer the legislation through the chambers despite slim majorities.

House GOP leadership remained confident, managing to avoid shifting deadlines despite pressure. Steve Scalise, the House Majority Leader, told reporters on Thursday morning, “Every time it seemed like it might die, we didn’t give anyone the opportunity to lower the bill.”

Johnson emphasized the support from Trump and members of his administration in getting the holdouts on board. “The president helped answer the questions. We had Cabinet Secretaries involved and experts in all fields,” he explained.

He dedicated much of Wednesday and Thursday night convincing those who hesitated, pushing for a procedural vote just after 9:30 PM, even in the face of threats from some conservative lawmakers to vote “no.”

Refuting their concerns, Johnson labeled their opposition as a “bluff” and proceeded with a voting session that lasted around six hours, culminating in a vote at roughly 3:30 AM.

Fitzpatrick stood out as the lone GOP member to oppose the rules for debating the president’s bill. All House Democrats voted against beginning discussions on it as well.

Before the procedural vote, Johnson remarked, “It’s a legislative process. This is exactly how the framers think it was meant to work.” He expressed optimism about their progress, stating, “We’re going to offer the President’s first American agenda, a massive, beautiful bill. We’re going to do it right by the American people.”

Trump, often described as close to many Congressional Republicans, had recently dismissed several members for their hesitance. He commented on social media about the significance of the bill, urging Republicans to take action.

As the hours passed, the holdouts switched to “yes” votes during the procedural vote, and later in the afternoon, they supported the bill’s final passage.

The comprehensive budget adjustment bill encompasses Trump’s key policy goals in a hefty 870-page document, ensuring a permanent extension of his 2017 tax cuts, fulfilling campaign promises, eliminating tips taxation, addressing overtime pay, and increasing the child tax credit to $2,200.

Additionally, the budget bill allocates significant funds for border security and defense, aims to cut mandatory spending by over $1.5 trillion across ten years, and curbs Medicaid spending growth by about $1 trillion over the same period.