After a slim victory for House Republicans and the Trump Administration, the “One Big Beautiful Bill” was signed with a crowd by the president on July 4. According to Pew Research Center, the bill does not hold much popularity with Americans; 49% oppose the bill, while 29% support the bill, and another 21% are unsure. Further, 54% of Americans believe it will have a negative impact on the country, while 30% consider it will have a positive effect, and 12% of Americans do not believe it will have any impact. With such differences in opinion, it is important for Americans to be aware of the bill’s contents to understand whether it will benefit them. The “Beautiful Bill” packs an array of large spending and tax cuts, diverting resources away from social programs and into national defense.
The bill adds strict restrictions to Medicaid despite President Trump’s campaign promise not to touch the program providing government sponsored healthcare for disabled and low-income Americans. A major new change is a work requirement for adults who are not disabled, forcing those covered under Medicaid to regularly file paperwork, including proof that they are working, volunteering, or attending school for at least 80 hours a month. The requirement forces paperwork to be filed twice a year instead of once, and allows for minor exceptions, such as caring for a young child. The bill lowers provider taxes from 6% to 3.5% by 2032, which are largely used by states to fund their share of Medicaid costs. Though the bill includes a $50 billion rural hospitalization fund to offset the costs of uninsured patients, this does not guarantee hospitals will not still have to carry these extra costs. An estimate from the Congressional Budget Office states that nearly 12 million Americans may lose their health coverage in the next 10 years because of these changes.
Following suit are cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, which over 40 million low-income Americans utilize. The bill forces states to contribute to the previously fully federally funded program, anywhere between 5 and 15% of the program’s costs. The previous work requirements for Medicaid also apply to non-disabled SNAP enrollees.
President Trump did deliver on his campaign promise to add the provision of “no tax on tips” which allows tipped employees to deduct some tip wages and overtime pay from their federal taxes. The provision is proposed only to apply to wages under $150,000 for individuals and $300,000 for joint filers. “No tax on tips,” however, will expire in 2028. The included legislation would also permanently increase a child tax credit to $2,200, which gives families with children under age 17 a tax break. Included is an extension of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which lowers income taxes for corporations and individuals, but many argue that the act benefits wealthy Americans the most, because of its flat rate of 37% tax applying to all individual wages over $626,351 and joint filing wages over $751,601.
These steep budget cuts come to support an increase of $150 billion to the U.S. Military, including the armed forces’ shipbuilding and President Trump’s proposed “Golden Dome” missile defense project, which mirrors Israel’s Iron Dome, consisting of interceptor missiles stationed at different points all across the country. Most notably, $100 billion will be allocated to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), to contribute to the Trump Administration’s strict treatment of illegal immigration. The funding will nearly double capacities at migrant detention facilities and hire more officers, making ICE the largest federal law enforcement agency.
Whether Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” benefits each American is a case of whether cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, and other provisions reducing clean energy benefits are worth paying for an unprecedented increase to immigration efforts. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that this bill may add $3.3 trillion to the federal deficit, a huge number contributing to the $28.8 trillion national debt as of May 2025. Of course, a full list of provisions in the “Beautiful Bill” can be viewed at whitehouse.gov for a more complete picture.