Republicans managed to advance President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” out of the House Budget Committee during a late Sunday night meeting after leadership made concessions to fiscal hawks in the wake of a revolt last Friday.
The bill cleared the committee in a 17–16 vote, with four present: Reps. Chip Roy of Texas, Ralph Norman of South Carolina, Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma and Andrew Clyde of Georgia. Those four fiscal hawks previously shot down the bill from advancing through the committee last Friday.
Now that the bill has cleared the Budget Committee, it heads to the Rules Committee and then eventually to the House floor. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is hoping for a full floor vote by the end of this week.
“We’re voting on exactly what we presented the other day, last Friday,” Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington said during a back-and-forth with Democrats on the panel Sunday.
Norman quipped that “I’m excited about the changes,” without elaborating.
“One Big Beautiful Bill Act” is what Republicans have spent months developing to serve as Trump’s signature legislative accomplishment of the year, and possibly his second term.
The mega bill, which spans well over 1,100 pages, features an extension of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, no taxes on tips, no taxes on overtime pay, an increased tax deduction for seniors, beefed-up border security, bolstered energy supply and more.
Last week, various House committees rolled out the components of the mammoth bill they had developed. The House Budget Committee packaged all of that together and held a markup on Friday.
Five Republicans — Roy, Norman, Brecheen, Clyde and Lloyd Smucker of Pennsylvania — voted against advancing it from the budget panel last Friday in a 21-16 vote.
Smucker claimed he did so for procedural reasons. The others cited concerns about spending and demanded that the bill enact work requirements on Medicaid sooner. The initial draft implemented that in 2029. Johnson said the delay was intended to give states adequate time to adjust.
Once out of the budget committee, the bill is expected to face headwinds from blue state Republicans who have demanded a higher state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap.
Currently, the SALT cap is at $10,000, thanks to the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The initial draft bumped it up to $30,000 for individuals with taxable annual income of $400,000 or less. SALT caucus members called that woefully inadequate.
Moderate Republicans have also been squeamish about proposed cuts to Medicaid funding and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Medicaid provides health insurance to over 70 million low-income Americans and is a distinct program from Medicare, which provides health insurance to the elderly.
Overall, Republicans are using the monster bill to cram as many of their conservative wishlist priorities through Congress as possible.
Here’s a quick rundown of what’s inside the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act:”
- Permanent extension of the individual income tax cuts in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, with some adjustments.
- Temporary elimination of taxes on qualified tips, overtime pay and car loan interest payments.
- An additional $4,000 deduction for senior Americans in lieu of no taxes on Social Security (there are procedural reasons why Republicans can’t do no taxes on Social Security, namely the Byrd Rule).
- SALT cap increase.
- Hikes debt ceiling by $4 trillion (The debt limit is forecasted to become a problem sometime after July or August if Congress fails to act).
- $175 billion for border security, including $46.5 billion for the construction of a wall along the US-Mexico border specifically.
- $150 billion in additional funding for defense, including $25 billion for Trump’s space-based Golden Dome missile defense system, $34 billion to expand the Navy’s capacity and shipbuilding, $21 billion to replenish America’s ammunition stockpile and $5 billion for border security.
- A mandated 80-hour-per-month work requirement on able-bodied adults ages 19 – 64 enrolled in Medicaid. Volunteer work and school would count toward the requirement.
- States that provide Affordable Care Act expansion of Medicaid coverage for illegal immigrants will see their reimbursement rates drop.
- States with error rates on SNAP benefits would be required to pay a percentage of the program (historically, the feds paid for all of it).
- Set up a fast-track system for permitting natural gas if applicants pay either 1% of a project’s costs or $10 million, whichever amount is less.
- Ends the Biden-era electric vehicle mandate for two-thirds of new car sales to be EVS by 2032.
- Able-bodied adults without children would also see work requirements for SNAP, which currently last until the age of 54, jump to the age of 64.
- New “Money Accounts for Growth and Advancement” MAGA savings accounts for parents and guardians where the feds will pay $1,000 for children born between Jan. 1, 2024, and Dec. 31, 2028.
- Restrictions on large abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood from getting Medicaid funding.
- Restrictions on Medicaid funding for transgender surgeries.
- Eliminate the $200 tax on gun silencers.
- Tax of up to 21% on certain university endowments.
- Consolidate student loan payments into two options: 1.) standard program, encompassing monthly payments over a 10 to 25 year period 2.) “repayment assistance” program that is more lenient.
- Roll back key provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act.
- Air Traffic Control modernization.
“This is the largest spending reduction in at least three decades, probably longer. It’s historic,” Johnson crowed on “Fox News Sunday.”
Prior to any adjustments made by the Budget Committee, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” was projected to exceed the GOP’s goal of slashing more than $1.5 trillion in spending over a 10-year window.
However, the measure was also projected to add $3.3 trillion to the debt over 10 years, largely thanks to tax provisions that aren’t fully paid for, according to an estimate from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget prior to the committee markup Sunday.
If the bill clears the House, Republicans are aiming to take it through the Senate via a process known as reconciliation, which will enable them to avoid a Democratic filibuster, something that requires 60 votes to overcome.
There are only 53 Republicans in the Senate.
The reconciliation process is subject to review by the Senate parliamentarian, who can dub provisions incompatible with the rules.
Another key hurdle in the Senate is that several key lawmakers, such as Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), have raised doubts about the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” as currently written.
Read the full article here
