THE BRIDGE BRIEF: Congress Passes Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill

Bridge Public Affairs

Last week, President Donald J. Trump and Republicans in Congress did something many political observers believed improbable: despite extraordinarily slim margins in the House and Senate, they used the reconciliation process and corralled competing factions within the party to pass a comprehensive piece of legislation that includes nearly every major legislative priority for Republicans in time for the president to sign it on the Fourth of July.

After months of negotiations, drafts, amendments, “Byrd baths,” unanimous Democratic opposition, inter-party skirmishes, the longest House floor speech in history (8 hours and 44 minutes by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries [D-NY-8]), a close House vote, a tied Senate vote, another close House vote, and loads of lobbying, Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) Act is now law.

The 870-page law (text available here) will impact citizens, immigrants, non-profit organizations, small businesses, and large corporations, particularly in relation to taxes, health and social welfare programs, immigration and national defense, and energy. Below, we offer a summary of some of the most important changes you should expect as a result of this wide-ranging legislation.

 

PERSONAL TAX CUTS

  • Makes permanent the tax cuts included in Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which were set to expire this year

  • Increases the standard deduction by $750 ($1,500 for married joint filers) and is adjusted for inflation in future years

  • Eliminates taxes on tips (under $25,000/year) and overtime (under $12,500/year)

  • Allows tax deductions for car loan interest for vehicles assembled in the U.S.

  • Increases the child tax credit by $200/child

  • Effectively eliminates taxes on Social Security benefits by allowing every senior over age 65 to deduct up to $6,000/year (the senior must have modified gross adjusted income of up to $75,000).

  • Increases the deduction limit for state and local taxes (SALT) from $10,000 to $40,000.

 

BUSINESS TAX CUTS

  • Extends 100% bonus depreciation for qualified property acquired and placed in service after Jan. 19, 2025

  • Restores the ability to permanently deduct domestic research or experimental expenditures paid or incurred after Dec. 31, 2024.

  • Expands Biden’s CHIPS Act tax credits from 25% to 35% for domestic advanced manufacturing

 

HEALTH AND SOCIAL WELLFARE PROGRAMS

  • Provides $50 billion for a rural hospital stabilization fund

  • Prevents non-citizens from enrolling in or receiving benefits from Medicaid.

  • Requires states to contribute more to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and adds work requirements for able-bodied SNAP enrollees who do not have dependents

  • Decreases Medicaid spending by $930 billion over 10 years

  • Adds work requirements for able-bodied Medicaid enrollees who do not have dependents or disabilities

  • Requires re-enrollment every 6 months, as well as income and residency verifications

  • Prevents federal funding to organizations (including 501(C)(3) nonprofit organizations) that are primarily engaged in providing reproductive health or abortion services

 

IMMIGRATION AND NATIONAL DEFENSE

  • Adds $150 billion budget increase to the US military for a wide-ranging set of priorities, including increasing domestic shipbuilding and munitions capacity, a “Golden Dome” national missile defense system, and quality of life improvements for US service members

  • Provides $46.5 billion for the southern border wall, $45 billion to expand detention capacity for immigrants in custody, and $30 billion to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to hire and train 10,000 more ICE officers

  • Provides $13.5 billion to reimburse state and local governments for border security and immigration enforcement activities since January 20, 2021

  • Adds a $100 fee for foreign nationals seeking asylum in the US

 

ENERGY

  • Rescinds remaining unobligated funding for much of the green energy programs created by former President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), including the Green and Resilient Retrofit Program (GRRP) and State-Based Home Efficiency Contractor Training Grants

  • Eliminates tax credits for EVs

  • Reverses restrictions on oil and gas leases on public lands imposed by the Biden Administration

  • Significantly increases the availability of oil and gas drilling permits on public lands and in the Gulf of America

  • Reduces the royalty rate for oil and gas production on public lands from 16.67% to 12.5%

 

OTHER MAJOR PROVISIONS

  • Increases the national debt limit by roughly $5 trillion, giving Congress and President Trump roughly 2 more years before needing to raise the limit again

  • Provides $12.52 billion to modernize America’s air traffic control infrastructure

  • Provides up to $150 million for events to celebrate the country's 250th anniversary held on public lands

  • Provides $150 million to allow National Laboratories to partner with American industry to ensure AI can process DOE’s existing scientific data

 

The team at Bridge is standing by to help you answer any questions about how the OBBB will affect your organization. As always, please let us know if we can help.

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