Spending bill breakdown and Week 20 Legislative Recap
Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” passes first step—barely.
House Republicans passed Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” by a razor thin margin last week. Republicans attempted to schedule a hearing in the Rules Committee at 1 a.m. when no one would be watching. The Democrats responded by lining up to make over 500 amendments, which each took 5 minutes a piece. As a result, the Rules Committee continued through the next day and into the night.
Many things made it into the bill or got taken out of the bill at the last minute. The bill largely mirrors the blueprint resolution passed a month ago directing committees to, among other things, cut $880 billion from the committee that oversees Medicaid. Even though Republicans have been saying for months that they have no plans to touch the crucial healthcare program, we now have evidence that this was a lie.
The Congressional Budget Office has made it clear that the bill will cut spending for those in the bottom 10% of earners while also increasing benefits for the top 10%. It will do this while increasing the deficit by $3.8 trillion. The CBO also says the bill will trigger $500 billion in automatic cuts to Medicare under the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) Act.
Other highlights last week include Representative Meeks introducing a discharge petition to end Trump’s tariffs—again. Kristi Noem was grilled in a committee meeting where she was unable to explain what “habeus corpus” is. The Senate and House continued to roll back regulations on energy, transportation, and financial services.
This week, we’ll go into detail about what the appropriations bill contains, and then we will recap the legislation from both chambers as usual.
Big Beautiful Bill
Here is a recap of the highlights that we know from the bill so far.
Tax cuts and extensions
Extends 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which were going to sunset at the end of this year (recall that AOC did one of her first livestreams this year talking about this specifically because people were asking why DOGE was cutting everything so quickly and wrecklessly—she rightly claimed it’s to pay for the tax cuts before they expire)
No tax on tips and no taxes on overtime (this is temporary and conveniently expires in 2028 just in time for campaign season)
Tax deductions on up to $10,000 interest on auto loans if the car was made in the US
Eliminates $200 tax on gun silencers
Increases tax exemption on Estate Tax and Gift Taxes to $15 million per individual.
Salt Deduction cap of $40,000 pushed for by blue state Republicans.
Tax increases
Tax on remittances for non-citizens sending money to family members in their home countries
Creates a $1,000 fee for those applying for asylum in the US
Imposes a tiered excise tax on large private university endowments
Increases excise tax rate on net investment income for private foundations
Spending increases
Immigration spending: $46.5 billion for border wall, $4.1 billion to hire more border patrol agents and personnel, and $2 billion for signing bonuses for border patrol agents. $12 billion more was added to the bill by amendment to pay for other border related expenses.
Temporary increase of child tax credit by $500
Raises the debt limit by $4 trillion. By adding this to the spending bill, Republicans don’t have to negotiate with Democrats on the issue.
Savings account for children (aka Trump Accounts): $1,000 deposit into an account that gets invested like a brokerage account. Only children with two US citizen parents with SSNs are eligible. The US already has 529 Plans, which some argue are far superior to the Trump Accounts because you pay no taxes on qualifying expenses and they can be transferred to a Roth IRA. The only real benefit of the Trump Account appears to be the initial $1,000 deposit.
Spending cuts
SNAP benefits to decrease by $267 billion
Imposing Medicaid work requirements: The Congressional Budget offices estimates that this will only save $109 billion over the next decade—far short of the $880 billion goal—but that as many as 600,000 people would lose their coverage. It also shifts $65 billion to state governments and some Medicaid enrollees will have to pay more out-of-pocket than they do now.
Eliminating EV and green tax credits
Not counting cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and SNAP, total net spending cuts for all other purposes is $64 billion.
Other stuff
TRO bonds: Courts issuing Temporary Restraining Orders would be required to collect a bond from all parties seeking an injunction before it could be enforced. This will have unintended consequences for cases that don’t involve Trump at all, such as police reform and voting rights. This is only a temporary measure to protect the Trump administration because judges have discretion to set the bond amount to $1 if they want to. However, as many analyses have pointed out, every ongoing case that doesn’t require a bond would become unenforceable.
Eliminating protections for independent oversight agencies and for federal workers
Things that almost made it into the bill
One proposal would have sold off hundreds of thousands of acres of land in Utah and Nevada. 200,000 acres of that land was in Clark County, where Las Vegas sits. The sale would have generated an estimated $18 billion in revenue, but it faced bipartisan opposition.
There was a plan to cut federal employee pension benefits, but this did not make it into the final bill.
Initially added a repeal of a tax on tanning beds but took it out at the last minute
This bill is supposedly DOA in the Senate, according to many Republicans there, and the version they send back will likely have many changes. Then the real test of whether this passes begins.
SENATE
Bills passed
No Tax on Tips Act: S. 129 Amends the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to eliminate the application of the income tax on qualified tips through a deduction allowed to all individual taxpayers. Passed by Unanimous Consent.
Save Our Seas 2.0 Amendments Act: S. 216 Amends the Save Our Seas 2.0 Act to improve the administration of the Marine Debris Foundation, to amend the Marine Debris Act to improve the administration of the Marine Debris Program of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Passed by voice vote.
Securing Semiconductor Supply Chains Act: S. 97 Requires SelectUSA to coordinate with State-level economic development organizations to increase foreign direct investment in semiconductor-related manufacturing and production. Passed by Unanimous Consent.
Disapprovals passed
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards: S.J. Res. 55 nullifies a rule submitted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration relating to “Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Fuel System Integrity of Hydrogen Vehicles; Compressed Hydrogen Storage System Integrity; Incorporation by Reference''. Passed by roll call vote 51-46.
California State Motor Vehicle and Engine Pollution Control Standards: H.J. Res. 88 nullifies a rule submitted by the Environmental Protection Agency relating to “California State Motor Vehicle and Engine Pollution Control Standards; Advanced Clean Cars II; Waiver of Preemption; Notice of Decision'', after agreeing to the motion to proceed. Passed by roll call vote 51-44.
California State Motor Vehicle and Engine Pollution Control Standards: H.J. Res. 87 Nullifies a rule submitted by the Environmental Protection Agency relating to “California State Motor Vehicle and Engine Pollution Control Standards; Heavy-Duty Vehicle and Engine Emission Warranty and Maintenance Provisions; Advanced Clean Trucks; Zero Emission Airport Shuttle; Zero-Emission Power Train Certification; Waiver of Preemption; Notice of Decision''. Passed by roll call vote 51-45.
California State Motor Vehicle and Engine and Nonroad Engine Pollution Control Standards: H.J. Res. 89 Nullifies a rule submitted by the Environmental Protection Agency relating to “California State Motor Vehicle and Engine and Nonroad Engine Pollution Control Standards; The ‘Omnibus' Low NOX Regulation; Waiver of Preemption; Notice of Decision''. Passed by roll call vote 49-46.
Nominations Confirmed
Charles Kushner to be Ambassador to the French Republic, and to serve concurrently and without additional compensation as Ambassador to the Principality of Monaco. Passed 51-45.
HOUSE
Clean Energy Demonstration Transparency Act of 2025: H.R. 1453 Amends the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to require reporting regarding clean energy demonstration projects. Passed by voice vote.
Strengthening the Quad Act: H.R. 1263 Requires a strategy for bolstering engagement and cooperation between the United States, Australia, India, and Japan and to seek to establish a Quad Inter-Parliamentary Working Group to facilitate closer cooperation on shared interests and values. Passed by roll call vote, 334-51.
Communities Helping Invest through Property and Improvements Needed for Veterans Act of 2025: H.R. 217 Makes permanent the pilot program authorized by the Communities Helping Invest through Property and Improvements Needed for Veterans Act of 2016. Passed by voice vote.
Veterans Accessibility Advisory Committee Act of 2025: H.R. 1147, amended, to amend title 38, United States Code, to establish the Veterans Advisory Committee on Equal Access. Passed by voice vote.
Simplifying Forms for Veterans Claims Act: H.R. 1286 Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to seek to enter into an agreement with a federally funded research and development center for an assessment of forms that the Secretary sends to claimants for benefits under laws administered by the Secretary. Passed by roll call vote 386-1
VA Home Loan Program Reform Act: H.R. 1815 Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to take certain actions in the case of a default on a home loan guaranteed by the Secretary. Passed by voice vote.
VA Budget Shortfall Accountability Act: H.R. 1823 Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Comptroller General of the United States to report on certain funding shortfalls in the Department of Veterans Affairs. Passed by voice vote.
Improving VA Training for Military Sexual Trauma Claims Act: H.R. 2201 Improves claims, made under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, regarding military sexual trauma. Passed by voice vote.
Automotive Support Services to Improve Safe Transportation Act of 2025: H.R. 1364 Provides clarification regarding the inclusion of medically necessary automobile adaptations in Department of Veterans Affairs definition of “medical services''. Passed by voice vote.
Veterans Claims Education Act of 2025: H.R. 1578, amended, to amend title 38, United States Code, to promote assistance from persons recognized by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for individuals who file certain claims under laws administered by the Secretary. Passed by voice vote.
Accelerating Networking, Cyberinfrastructure, and Hardware for Oceanic Research Act: H.R. 1223 Requires a plan to improve the cybersecurity and telecommunications of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet. Passed by voice vote, 412-11.
Disapprovals passed
Rule submitted by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency of the Department of the Treasury: S.J. Res. 13, Nullifies a rule submitted by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency of the Department of the Treasury relating to the review of applications under the Bank Merger Act. Passed by roll call vote, 220-207.
Rule submitted by the Environmental Protection Agency: S.J. Res. 31 Nullifies a rule submitted by the Environmental Protection Agency relating to “Review of Final Rule Reclassification of Major Sources as Area Sources Under Section 112 of the Clean Air Act''. Passed by roll call vote, 216-212.