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By G. A. McNeeley
July 6, 2025 (Washington D.C.) – President Donald Trump on July 4 signed the highly contentious budget bill into law. The measure passed the Senate by a one-vote margin and on July 3, the House of Representatives approved the measure. All San Diego representatives voted no, with the exception of Rep. Darrell Issa, who voted in favor.
Trump called the measure, "One big beautiful bill." But crticis charge it will harm vulnerable Americans and dramatically increases the federal deficit, while dramatically increasing funds for immigration enforcement and making permanent tax breaks passed during the first Trump administration for the wealthiest Americans.
"This disgusting abomination, the GOP tax scam that guts Medicaid, rips food from the mouths of children, seniors, and veterans, and rewards billionaires with massive tax breaks," said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, in a marathon floor speech, ABC 10 News reports. "Every single Democrat stands in strong opposition to this bill because we're standing up for the American people."
The House’s vote followed a late-night breakthrough, after a small group of Republicans who were holding out relented, which cleared a hurdle that allowed the bill to move forward.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the bill would increase federal deficits over the next 10 years by nearly $3.3 trillion from 2025 to 2034, according to PBS.
What Will Trump’s Budget Bill Do?
One of the key provisions introduces new Medicaid work requirements that are set to take effect on December 31, 2026. States would be required to verify that able-bodied adults are working a minimum of 80 hours per month to remain eligible, according to ABC 10.
This change was initially a work requirement for childless adults without disabilities, but The Senate proposed tightening eligibility requirements by including able-bodied adults with children aged 15 and up, according to BBC.
Other changes include requiring Medicaid re-enrollment to shift from once a year to every six months, and lowering the provider taxes that states use to fund their share of Medicaid costs from 6% to 3.5% by 2032.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that these changes could result in nearly 12 million Americans losing their health coverage by the end of the next decade, according to BBC.
The bill also includes a $4.5 trillion extension of tax cuts first implemented during Trump’s previous term, as well as about $350 billion that would go toward national security efforts, including funding for Trump’s deportation agenda, according to ABC 10.
Key provisions from Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act are set to expire in December, but the budget bill aims to make those tax cuts permanent, and increase standard deductions by $1,000 for individuals and $2,000 for married couples until 2028, according to BBC.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that 3 million Americans wouldn’t qualify for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. Republicans are looking to have states pick up some of the cost for SNAP benefits, but the federal government currently funds all benefit costs. The bill says that beginning in 2028, states will be required to contribute a set percentage of those costs if their payment error rate exceeds 6%, according to PBS.
The bill would also temporarily increase the standard deduction up to $4,000 for individuals who are 65 and over, from 2025 through 2028. Senate Republicans also approved an extension of Social Security tax breaks, and an increase that would grant a $6,000 tax deduction for older Americans who earn no more than $75,000 a year, according to BBC.
The bill would allow individuals to deduct a certain amount of tip wages and overtime from their taxes, but it was proposed to gradually phase these benefits out based on annual income, which starts at $150,000 for individuals and $300,000 for joint filers. This would expire in 2028.
The bill would also permanently increase the child tax credit to $2,200, which is $300 less than what House lawmakers wanted. The House also required both parents to have a Social Security number, but the Senate OK'd a requirement of only one parent, according to BBC.
The bill would also allow the debt ceiling to be raised by $5 trillion, which is more than the $4 trillion that the House approved last month. Lifting that debt limit also allows the government to pay for programs already approved by Congress.
Republicans also proposed to roll back tax breaks designed to boost clean energy projects fueled by renewable sources such as energy and wind. A tax break for people who buy new or used electric vehicles would expire on September 30 of this year, instead of at the end of 2032 under current law. Also, a tax credit for the production of critical materials will be expanded to include metallurgical coal used in steelmaking, according to PBS.
Reactions to the measure
The bill was passed by a vote of 218 to 214, as all 212 Democrats voted in unison against the bill. They were joined by Representatives Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pennsylvania), according to NPR.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Lousiana) said in his speech on the House floor that the bill would make the U.S. "stronger, safer and more prosperous than ever before."
"Today we are laying a key cornerstone of America's new golden age," Johnson added, according to NPR.
Before the bill was passed, Trump had said on Truth Social that he wanted lawmakers to finish the job. "Largest Tax Cuts in History and a Booming Economy vs. Biggest Tax Increase in History, and a Failed Economy. What are the Republicans waiting for??? What are you trying to prove??? MAGA IS NOT HAPPY, AND IT'S COSTING YOU VOTES!!!”
Senators Alex Padilla (D-California) and Adam Schiff (D-California) both voted against the bill, and U.S. Representatives Sara Jacobs (D-California), Mike Levin (D-California), Scott Peters (D-California), and Juan Vargas (D-California) also voted against it, while U.S. Representative Darrell Issa (R-California) voted in favor of the bill.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez talked about what the bill will do to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). “This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion - making ICE bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, DEA, & others combined,” she said on BlueSky.
Before the bill was passed, Issa said on X, “Every Democrat in Congress is about to vote against tax cuts on tips, overtime, Social Security, car loans, families with kids and small businesses -- while promising billions in benefits for illegals. No wonder they’re filibustering.”
North County Indivisible, which has been holding protests at Issa’s office and organized phone and email campaigns to ask Issa to oppose the measure, posted a meme on social media after the vote slamming Issa for voting to “strip 12 million Americans of their health care....take food off the tables of 11 million people,” as well as to “give “billionaires huge tax breaks...shut down over 200 Planned Parenthood health centers” and “supercharge ICE, giving them $5 billion.”
California Senator Adam Schiff, in a press release, criticized Senate Republicans for voting to kick millions off of their health care plans, cut funding for SNAP benefits, take away funding for rural hospitals, and do so much more than just that.
“This bill is a disaster for millions of Americans --- and I will do absolutely everything I can to fight back,” Schiff said.
“Because the American people deserve leaders who will work to lower costs, help put food on the table, and make ends meet,” Schiff added.
Steve Ellis, President of Taxpayers for Common Sense, stated in an email, “The Senate wants to lock in nearly $4.5 trillion in tax cuts while reducing net spending by less than $1.3 trillion, adding $3.24 trillion to our nation’s already unsustainable debt.”
Ellis mentioned that those numbers are before the Congressional Budget Office even has to calculate macroeconomic effects and future interest payments, which ended up driving the House bill’s score up. “We could be looking at $4 trillion in additional deficits before we are through.”
Ellis explained that when Congress doesn’t pay for tax cuts today, “those costs don’t disappear”, because “they compound with interest and land squarely on the backs of taxpayers tomorrow.”
“This reconciliation bill represents the worst kind of fiscal malpractice: borrowing trillions to pay for massive tax cuts and pretending the bill will never come due,” Ellis added. “In 2000, the national debt was under $6 trillion. Today, it’s over $36 trillion.”
Brad Angerman, of The Communications Network, talked about how the proposal to sell off “millions of acres of public lands was removed from the GOP megabill.”
“The provision was cut following significant public backlash and concerns raised by congressional leaders from both parties,” Angerman added.
Angerman also shared the following statement from Judith LeBlanc, executive director of Native Organizers Alliance Action Fund:
“Organizing and mobilizing efforts were key to stopping the sale of our public lands. As promised during the campaign, the GOP tried to sell off our public lands, without any public process, to help pay for tax cuts for billionaires and major corporations. But Indian Country and our allies were paying attention, and we came together to shut it down.”
According to Common Cause, the bill “hands out massive tax breaks to billionaire donors,” hurts programs like Medicaid and SNAP that support communities, and pours “billions of dollars into Trump’s cruel anti-immigrant agenda”.
“This isn’t just bad policy,” Common Cause stated in a press release. “It’s the product of a corrupt system rigged to serve billionaires over the rest of us. It’s a glaring example of how big money distorts our democracy and enables a billionaire’s budget to steamroll through Congress.” The organization emphasized the need to continue the fight “against the corrosive influence of money in politics and corruption.”
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