Trump Tax Scam Heads to the Senate

Kids will go hungry, people will die — and billionaires will get richer. It's up to us to stop this bill.

House Republicans’ megabill passed at 6:45 AM ET by a vote of 215-214, with all Democrats opposed. The vote followed last-minute edits to win holdout Republican votes. Those changes include:

• Speeding the timeline for onerous Medicaid work reporting and eligibility paperwork requirements. These would now kick in at the end of 2026. For work reporting, it could kick in sooner if states so chose. This means the resulting coverage losses will also occur sooner.

• Hastening the end of clean energy tax credits. While the bill originally phased these incentives out over time, the revised version ends most at the end of 2028, with exceptions for nuclear energy. Projects must also begin construction within two months of this bill’s enactment and be placed in service by the end of 2028 to qualify for tax credits. Analysts said these requirements could render the credits impossible to use.

• Raising the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap to $40,000. It’s currently set at $10,000. This new limit applies to taxpayers making under $500,000; it phases down for those making more, but won’t go below $10,000. The cap will increase annually through 2033.

The bill still has several hurdles to clear before it could plausibly become law. It now heads to the Senate, where a host of changes are expected to appease GOP senators and adhere to the Senate’s stricter rules.

GOP MEGABILL: TOPLINE SUMMARY

This bill would renew and expand tax loopholes for the wealthiest Americans, while hurting people who make the least.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) found that Americans making the lowest incomes would lose resources under this bill, while those whose incomes are in the top 10 percent would make more. Specifically, under the GOP megabill, the top 0.1 percent of Americans would take home at least $389,000 extra in after-tax income next year, while people making under $17,000 would lose $1,000, and those making between $17,000 and $51,000 would lose $700.

On top of this extra money for the wealthiest Americans, the bill funnels billions to the Pentagon and defense contractors like Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

The Republican megabill pays for these tax giveaways to the mega-rich by taking health care, food assistance, and more from communities across the country. Below is a summary of key provisions and their expected impacts.

Note: This summary is not exhaustive and reflects the bill at the time of publication on May 22, 2025. Furthermore, the CBO estimates referenced concern the version of the bill approved by the House Budget Committee and, therefore, do not account for last-minute changes expected to exacerbate the disparity between the bill’s benefits for the rich and consequences for working families.

IMPACTS ON HEALTHCARE

This bill would take health insurance away from an estimated 15 million Americans. Here’s how:

• New work reporting requirements for Medicaid enrollees. This new red tape alone would kick millions off their health insurance — without promoting employment. Most Medicaid enrollees already work, and most within the minority who do not are caring for family members, have a disability, or attend school. People who lose coverage due to work reporting requirements suffer long-term consequences: Arkansas data shows that half struggle to pay off medical debt and nearly two-thirds delay taking medications.

• New paperwork requirements to “re-prove” Medicaid eligibility. This added red tape results in people who are Medicaid-eligible losing insurance due to paperwork errors or processing delays.

• Killing tax credits that lower families’ health care costs. The bill lets tax credits that help families afford their insurance premiums expire. Some will no longer be able to afford coverage, resulting in an estimated 4 million Americans losing their insurance.

• “Defunding” Planned Parenthood. The bill bars Medicaid payments to Planned Parenthood, where 4-in-10 Medicaid recipients have received care, despite findings that other providers cannot fill the gap if Planned Parenthood facilities are forced to close.

• Forcing Medicare cuts. CBO found that the bill balloons the country’s deficit so much that it would trigger cuts to Medicare, too, with untold effects on more than 68 million Medicare enrollees’ care.

IMPACTS ON FOOD ASSISTANCE

This bill would put nearly 11 million people, including more than 4 million kids, at risk of losing food assistance under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Here’s how:

• New work reporting requirements for people who receive food assistance —including for older Americans and parents of young children as young as 8 years old. Similar to Medicaid reporting requirements, this new red tape would have little effect on the number of people working but would hurt working families, including children. Kids who lose even some of their SNAP benefits become more likely to skip medical care as their families try to make ends meet. Many could also lose access to school meals.

• Forcing states to cut back on or end food assistance. The bill pushes SNAP benefit costs onto states for the first time since the program’s creation during the Great Depression. This is expected to force states to cut back on the assistance hungry Americans can receive, narrow SNAP eligibility, or end their food aid programs entirely.

• Preventing food assistance from keeping up with rising costs. In 2021, at Congress’ direction under a law then-President Trump signed, the Biden administration updated the grocery budget the Agriculture Department uses to determine the monthly SNAP allotment for the first time in 15 years. The change meant, on average, an extra $12-$16 per person per month for SNAP households. Republican members of Congress strongly criticized this increase, and this bill would forestall similar updates in the future.

IMPACTS ON FAMILIES

This bill would raise families’ costs. Here’s how:

• Kicking 4.5 million American kids off the child tax credit. The bill would deny the child tax credit — an essential tool for combatting child poverty — to U.S. citizen kids whose parents do not have Social Security numbers.

• New out-of-pocket costs for some Medicaid enrollees. This bill would let states charge low-income Americans up to $35 per health care service, such as a doctor's appointment. Evidence shows these charges discourage people from seeking needed care — even when that care might be exempt from co-pays.

• Making energy bills more expensive. The bill ends or restricts several tax credits for clean energy, electric cars, and home efficiency improvements, raising Americans’ energy costs. For example, under this bill, homeowners who purchase solar panels would lose access to a 30 percent tax credit.

IMPACTS ON STUDENTS

This bill would threaten education access. Here’s how:

• Hikes borrowers’ student loan payments. Under this bill, the average borrower with a college degree would pay an additional $2,928 per year.

• Funnels public dollars to private education. The bill creates a $5 billion private school voucher program, allowing ultra-wealthy Americans to claim tax breaks for their donations to organizations that give out private school scholarships. Evidence shows that private school vouchers divert resources away from public schools and could result in school closures or teacher layoffs. This hurts public school students and kids with disabilities, as private schools are exempt from certain laws that uphold their rights.

IMPACTS ON IMMIGRANT FAMILIES

This bill targets immigrant families. Here’s how:

• New penalties for states that provide health care to undocumented immigrants. The federal government would cut Medicaid funds for states that use state funds — not federal dollars — to cover undocumented immigrants.

• Funnels $80 billion to build immigration jails and deny immigrants of their rights. This is on top of $69 billion to militarize the border.

• Taxes remittances. The bill slaps a 5 percent tax on money that immigrants in the U.S. send abroad. This could worsen economic insecurity in those countries and prompt more migration to the U.S.

• Bars DACA recipients from health care plans. The bill prevents Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients from signing up for health insurance via the Affordable Care Act marketplaces and denies them tax credits that help lower the cost of insurance premiums.

• Imposes new penalties on immigrants seeking asylum protections. These fees include $1,000 to seek asylum, plus $100 annually as the government considers that application.

IMPACTS ON CONSUMERS

This bill puts consumers at risk. Here’s how:

• Cutting funding for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). This watchdog agency has returned $20 billion to defrauded Americans and investigated consumer complaints against companies like Tesla. Without adequate resources, CFPB cannot recoup Americans’ costs when companies rip them off.

• Blocks states from enforcing their own artificial intelligence (AI) laws. The bill would prohibit state and local governments from enforcing any AI-related laws or regulations for a decade, including those related to consumer protection, worker rights, and civil rights, without advancing any similar protections on the federal level.

What’s next:

It’s important to remember that Republicans are using what used to be a fairly unusual legislative maneuver — reconciliation — to skirt the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster. To do that, the House and Senate must agree to pass the exact same bill, down to the letter, in both chambers.

But Senate Republicans simply aren’t going to pass the House’s bill without major changes. Vulnerable senators are concerned about draconian cuts to Medicaid and SNAP. Others think the cuts should be even more ruthless, or are annoyed at some of the deficit-ballooning deals Johnson had to make to get this thing through the House.

There are no easy fixes for Republican leadership here. The divides are so deep, and the cuts so politically toxic, that we have a real shot at flipping four votes to stop reconciliation in the Senate outright, just like we did in 2017.

Even if a bill does squeak through the Senate, it’ll be significantly different from what the House just voted on. That means another tough round of deal-making, infighting, and politically risky votes for House Republicans (with no guarantee of success).

MAGA Republicans will be furious that some of their most harmful, extremist ideas got stripped out. Swing-seat Republicans will be furious they need to vote twice to cut Medicaid and SNAP, especially if the Senate strips out special concessions Johnson promised to secure their yes votes in the first place. And Trump will be furious he’s not simply getting his way, instantly and unquestioningly.

If that happens — and if we keep relentless pressure on vulnerable Republicans — the bill may never pass the House a second time. Getting it across the finish line in one chamber took a herculean effort. Passing it again, with two chambers involved and weeks of additional pressure, will be even harder.

What you can do right now:

This fight isn’t over, and this bill can still be stopped! Even now, as Speaker Johnson and his pals prematurely pop their champagne, we have two clear paths to killing this bill:

1. We can defeat the bill outright in the Senate by pressuring four Senate Republicans into abstaining or voting against it.

2. If the Senate changes even one word of the bill — and GOP Senators are already pledging major rewrites their House counterparts won’t like — it’ll go back to the House for another vote, giving us a second chance to block it there.

Whether we stop the reconciliation bill in the Senate or in the House, there’s no doubt we can still win this fight! But we’ll need to ratchet up pressure on Republicans in both chambers right now. Here’s how we can do that:

• Share this post on social media as well as other content we are pushing out. We are on Twitter, Facebook, Bluesky, Instagram, TikTok, and Threads.

• Write a letter to the editor to your local paper. Use our tool kit for guidance. If your letter isn't published, post it on social media and share with your personal network.

• Call your two Senators demand they oppose this destructive bill. Script is below.

• You can also call your representative in the House. If they voted against this megabill, thank them and let them know they did the right thing. If they voted for it, express your anger and let them know you plan to hold them accountable in the 2026 midterms.

Your Script:

Hi, my name is [NAME] and I’m a constituent from [CITY, STATE].

I’m calling to urge Sen. [NAME] oppose the House’s budget reconciliation bill and its harmful cuts to vital government programs.

[OPTIONAL]: Specifically, I’m very concerned about… [PICK 1-3 budget provisions]

• the cuts to SNAP, (and)

• the cuts to Medicaid, (and)

• the cuts to student aid, (and)

• the cuts to Planned Parenthood, (and)

• the partisan attack on federal regulations, (and)

• the cuts to federal worker retirement benefits, (and)

• the tax breaks for people buying gun silencers, (and)

• the defunding of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, (and)

• the roll back of the Inflation Reduction Act's climate-focused programs, (and)

• the limit on federal judges’ ability to hold the Trump administration accountable.

Congress should pass a fair and responsible budget that helps working families and communities, not one that slashes our benefits to fund tax cuts for the wealthy.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

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