Congress has passed President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” handing the administration a major legislative victory, but both sides of the aisle have been sending mixed messages about what the legislation will actually do. Republicans have been lauding the bill for its supposed assistance to the middle class, while Democrats say it is primed to help the rich while cutting benefits for the needy. With Republicans controlling both houses of Congress, it seemed mostly inevitable that the bill would eventually be passed.
What did the commentators say?
The bill’s passage means that “seniors, students, taxpayers, children, parents, low-income Americans and just about everyone else will be affected,” said CNN. While Republicans have been tweaking versions of the bill to send between the different chambers of Congress, the “general contours of the massive piece of legislation are known.” This includes a $4.5 trillion extension of Trump’s enormous first-term tax cuts that would leave the wealthiest households with $12,000 more yearly, according to the Congressional Budget Office, and offsetting of “revenue loss and additional spending with cuts to federal support for the social safety net that helps Americans afford food and health insurance.”
Most notable are funding slashes to key programs for low-income Americans, including Medicaid, food stamps and the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. The version of the bill as passed “cuts federal spending on Medicaid and Affordable Care Act marketplaces by about $1 trillion over a decade,” which “could lead to nearly 12 million more people without insurance by 2034,” said NPR, citing the CBO estimate. Beyond individuals themselves losing insurance, this would “harm the finances of hospitals, nursing homes and community health centers” and “may force them to reduce services and employees, as well as close facilities.”
These Medicaid cuts would come via a proposed work requirement, which “would cut off coverage for millions of enrollees who do not meet new employment or reporting standards,” said NPR. But most “working-age Medicaid enrollees who don’t receive disability benefits already work or are looking for work,” meaning the requirement would likely have “little impact on employment.”
Republicans say “concerns are overblown and they are making both Medicaid and [food stamps] more sustainable by targeting waste, fraud and abuse in both programs,” said ABC News. The bill additionally “includes a key campaign promise: no federal income taxes on tips and overtime.” Trump also “keeps saying that Republicans’ mega tax and spending cut legislation will eliminate taxes on federal Social Security benefits,” said The Associated Press.
But this is false, as “it does not” eliminate Social Security taxes, said the AP. Trump’s “‘no tax on Social Security’ claim exaggerates the benefits to seniors if either the House or Senate-passed proposals are signed into law.” Instead of eliminating these taxes, the House and Senate “each passed their own versions of a temporary tax deduction for seniors aged 65 and over, which applies to all income — not just Social Security.” But “not all Social Security beneficiaries will be able to claim the deduction.”
There are also aspects of the bill that have been less reported on. This includes a phasing out of “tax credits for solar and wind projects — meaning that development will slow and consumers will face higher prices,” said Axios. Funding for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has been “slashed by about half in the new bill,” which “could lead to hundreds of job cuts and severely disarm a group that has returned billions to American consumers.”
What next?
The bill passed the House 218-214 on Thursday, sending it to Trump’s desk to be signed into law. Its passage is a “major victory for Trump and Republican leadership in Congress,” said USA Today. Despite unified opposition to the bill, Democrats “see it as a ticket to winning back congressional majorities in 2026.”
Republicans have been working to pass the ‘big, beautiful bill’ through Congress
