The One Big Beautiful Bill

The One Big Beautiful Bill was born during Trump’s last presidential campaign. Donald Trump made sweeping promises to ease the tax burden on everyday Americans, vowing to put more money back in their pockets. He pledged to eliminate taxes on tips and overtime pay, provide tax relief for seniors, and remove taxes on car loan interest for American-made vehicles. He also pushed to raise the cap on SALT deductions and extend the tax structure from the 2017 tax bill—all while assuring voters that Medicaid wouldn’t be touched.

These promises resonated with many working-class voters. But in reality, the 2017 tax bill primarily benefited the wealthy and big corporations, leaving lower-income earners with far less relief. And now, the tax package moving through Congress not only includes deep cuts to Medicaid but further enriches the wealthy, adds trillions to the national debt, and puts an expiration date on tax breaks for tips and overtime pay in 2028—potentially leaving workers worse off in just a few years.

The Numbers Tell the Story

The way this reconciliation bill is shaping up, it’s clear that Congressional Republicans are prioritizing tax cuts for the wealthy over the well-being of everyday Americans. If they truly cared about the consequences of passing the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, they would have at least asked the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to score it—but they didn’t. Why? Because getting the bill through Congress, keeping their leader satisfied, and securing their own political futures seem to matter more to them than anything else.

And the numbers tell the story: the national debt is projected to soar by $3.8 trillion over the next decade, 15 million people will lose their health care benefits, $700 million will be slashed from Medicaid, and $267 billion will be stripped from SNAP (food stamps).

Waste, Fraud and Abuse

When pressed about Medicaid cuts, Trump stood by his earlier promise that the program wouldn’t be touched. But on May 20 at the Capitol, he insisted, “We’re not doing any cutting of anything meaningful. The only thing we’re cutting is waste, fraud, and abuse.” He then suggested that “illegal aliens with multiple murder records” were somehow receiving Medicaid benefits. Where’s the proof? Where’s the documentation? What internal investigation uncovered $700 million worth of waste, fraud, and abuse? And just a reality check—undocumented immigrants aren’t eligible for Medicaid in the first place.

Then, when asked about cuts to SNAP (food assistance)—despite his campaign promise to lower grocery prices—Trump claimed, “The cut is going to give everybody much more food because prices are coming way down. Groceries are down.”