10 Terrible Policies in Trump and the GOP’s Bill to Cut Taxes for the Rich

After weeks of internal deliberations, backroom tug-of-wars, and public policy disputes, Republicans have their first drafts of the committee bills that will encompass President Donald Trump’s much coveted “big, beautiful” reconciliation package. While the working masses will be thrown a couple bones, the legislative package is at its core a smorgasbord of MAGA wishcasting focused on protecting billionaire interests, solidifying tax breaks for the wealthy, and cutting social safety net programs.  

The chief priority of congressional Republicans is to make permanent an extension of Trump’s first-term tax cuts. The version of the tax bill currently being considered by Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee preserves much of the 2017 legislation while folding in some of Trump’s 2024 campaign promises, including no taxes on tips, no taxes on overtime, and even less taxes for the wealthy. 

However, just like the 2017 cuts, this new tax bill would add trillions to the deficit — and it would once again disproportionately benefit the rich. The poorest Americans, meanwhile, could see a tax increase. In order to pay for the legislation, Republican lawmakers won’t look toward the people who are hoarding the vast majority of the wealth in this nation, but will instead take a hacksaw to social services and safety-net programs that help the nation’s poorest families survive, as well as raise taxes on universities, charities, and nonprofits. 

According to the bipartisan Joint Committee on Taxation, the GOP’s proposed tax provisions would increase the national debt by $5.3 trillion. It’s a phenomenal cost that Republicans intend to offset, to some degree, by forcing 10 million Americans off Medicaid, pushing millions off food stamps, and increasing health care costs for many. 

There will likely be several weeks of debate and negotiations to finalize what will surely be Trump’s signature second-term legislation.  

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Here are 10 of the worst policy changes in the president’s “big, beautiful” super bill.

For one brief moment, it seemed that the president was entertaining the possibility of raising taxes on the highest incomes in the nation. It took less than a week for him to discard the idea. 

The planned extension of Trump’s 2017 cuts would make permanent the income boons the president gave to Americans during his first term, which heavily favored the highest income brackets in the country — giving the rich big tax cuts while doing little to nothing for the nation’s lowest earners. This time around, the tax bill is expected to raise the average tax rate, by roughly one percent, on Americans earning less than $15,000 next year, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation. Millionaires would see a three percent tax cut.

Meanwhile, the legislation would also boost the wealthiest Americans’ families when they die, raising the estate tax exemption up to $15 million.  

In order to fund these tax cuts for the rich, Republicans are moving to punish the nation’s poor by slashing Medicaid, the government health insurance program for low-income Americans and the disabled. 

Despite warnings from health care providers that a loss of Medicaid revenue could lead to widespread hospital closures, and data showing that there’s not a single electoral district in the country with upwards of 15-percent support for Medicaid cuts, Republicans are planning to amputate $880 billion from the budget of the Energy and Commerce Committee. That amount could only come from the committee’s Medicaid budget. 

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House Republicans have proposed several ways to slash Medicaid spending. One change would limit so-called provider taxes, which states use to provide supplemental payments to hospitals, doctors, and other providers. As Rolling Stone reported this week, providers warn this change could force many rural hospitals to “close their doors.” Republicans have also proposed imposing mandatory work requirements on able-bodied Medicaid beneficiaries, a change that would add more bureaucracy to an already maddeningly complex program and likely cost many recipients their coverage. According to the Congressional Budget Office, more than 10 million Americans are expected to lose Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program coverage as a result of Republicans’ reconciliation bill.

In an opinion piece written for The New York Times, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) bashed “corporatist Republicans” who favor “corporate giveaways, preferences for capital and deep cuts to social insurance.” 

“This wing of the party wants Republicans to build our big, beautiful bill around slashing health insurance for the working poor. But that argument is both morally wrong and politically suicidal,” Hawley wrote. Will his party actually listen to him over the demands of the president? The jury is still out. 

Changes proposed by Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee could levy heavy tax penalties on Americans who purchase individual health insurance plans through marketplaces created under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). 

Low-income individuals who purchase their insurance using an advance premium tax credit could wind up owing the government thousands of dollars if their income ultimately exceeds the estimates they are required to provide to the IRS. 

According to a memo published by Third Way, Republicans’ under-the-radar tweaks to the ACA could increase health insurance premiums by hundreds of dollars, and force tens of thousands of people out of the marketplace. The changes could also reduce the number of people purchasing coverage through the ACA marketplace by shortening the enrollment period. 

The House Agriculture Committee’s reconciliation bill would authorize around $300 billion in cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) over the next ten years. SNAP — commonly referred to as “food stamps” — is the national program that provides financial support for the nutritional needs of low-income individuals and families. The program serviced around 42.1 million participants per month in fiscal year 2023, and about 40 percent of recipients of SNAP benefits were children under the age of 18.

The proposed cuts would shift some cost burdens of the program onto individual states, add new work requirements for recipients, and cut recipients’ ability to use SNAP funds on other amenities like internet access. Millions could lose access to food stamps, according to research from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Tax season just ended, and if you’re thinking of ways to avoid the minefield of extra payments and upgraded services offered by tax preparation services like H&R Block and Turbotax, you may soon be working with more limited options, thanks to Republicans. 

House Republicans’ reconciliation bill includes the elimination of Direct File, a free service provided by the Internal Revenue Service that currently allows eligible individuals in over 25 participating states to file their taxes directly to the IRS at no charge. The program was created under President Joe Biden, and faced heavy political and financial opposition from for-profit tax preparation companies. 

The House Judiciary Committee’s first stab at reconciliation legislation includes $80 billion for domestic immigration enforcement. According to an analysis by Immigration Impact, the figure “includes $45 billion dollars for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention and $14.4 billion for ICE transportation and removal operations.” 

On top of that, the bill would seek to raise additional funds for the Department of Homeland Security’s immigration operations by increasing fees — and leveling new ones — on common legal immigration processes. These include a $1,000 fee to apply for asylum; $1,000 for humanitarian parole; $500 for temporary protected status; $550 fees for work permits (billed every six months); $900 to appeal a rejection; and $5,000 for missing a court hearing.

This would be in addition to any legal fees and other costs typically associated with immigration to another country, and is primarily intended as a deterrent against the immigration of low-income individuals into the United States.  

The Trump administration has already made a habit of accusing individuals of terrorism, with little evidence, as a way to justify actions that clearly violate the laws, legal principles, and basic rights that are supposed to govern the nation (see: the unlawful imprisonment of hundreds of migrants in Salvadoran gulags). While the government has already targeted migrants and pro-Palestine protesters with broad powers and specious claims, charities and nonprofits could be next. 

The Ways and Means reconciliation text revives a proposal that would give the Trump administration the power to unilaterally terminate the tax-exempt status of disfavored nonprofits, on the grounds that those nonprofits are “terrorist-supporting organizations” that have provided “material support or resources” to terrorist groups. The measure would likely aid Trump’s crackdown on pro-Palestine protesters — though officials could potentially try to use it to target climate groups.

In 2022, Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) into law. The legislation was maligned by Republicans who framed it as a sneaky way for Democrats to pass a coveted “Green New Deal.” Three years later, the law has pumped over $843 billion worth of subsidy-fueled clean energy investments into struggling communities (many in red districts and states) — which is why some Republicans are begging their party to leave the IRA alone. But the GOP serves a higher power, and his name is Trump. 

According to a report from Heatmap, the House Ways and Means Committee is prepared to phase out the electric vehicle tax credit; get rid of technology-neutral production and investment tax credits that supported the development of renewable energy plants; eliminate tax credit sales by companies that were already reaching sustainability targets; and repeal tax credits for residential use of sustainable energy sources like solar power. 

Trump has vowed to keep the United States the global capital of artificial intelligence development and sales. With any new technology come challenges stemming from the mundane to the truly bizarre, and as states attempt to legislate and regulate the emergence of AI, Republicans are handing a major gift to tech companies. 

The House Energy & Commerce Committee has included a 10-year provision that would prevent any “state or subdivision” from enforcing “any law or regulation regulating artificial intelligence models, artificial intelligence systems, or automated decision systems during the 10-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act.” 

The proviso would preempt multiple state and local laws on the books already to regulate AI. Given how vague and expansive the provision is as currently written, it could conceivably bar any regulation of social media firms, which rely heavily on AI, or health insurance companies, which have been using AI to deny patients’ claims. Broadly-speaking, the provision would provide a massive shield to Silicon Valley giants  like Meta, Google, and OpenAI, which have been courting the AI-friendly Trump administration. 

One of the ways the AI preemption provision could potentially impact consumers is keeping rent prices high. According to a report from The Lever, the 10-year block on state and local AI regulations would kill efforts by local governments to crack down on real estate brokers and rental companies using AI software to jack up rent prices across their large inventories of properties. 

RealPage, a company that produces software for other real estate companies, has been sued several times in the last few years over accusations that their software can create algorithmic price-fixing monopolies by helping landlords coordinate rent hikes. Several cities have banned the use of RealPage and other algorithmic pricing software, and in response the company has heavily invested in its D.C. lobbying apparatus. The investment seems to be paying off.

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The Ways and Means’ reconciliation text includes a provision that would eliminate a $200 excise tax on the transfer of firearm silencers. Rep. David Kustoff (R-Tenn.) said in a statement on X: “I proposed [the] policy that would eliminate the tax on suppressors. This would be more than $1.5 billion in tax savings for gun owners over the next 10 years.” 

What the hell.