Donald Trump’s One Big Ugly Bill

The House passed Republicans’ unpopular “Big, Beautiful Bill” by a razor-thin margin of 215-214, sending the legislation to the Senate for review. Deficit hawks support steeper cuts while increased the deficit by trillions. Moderates complain the bill is a “handout to the wealthiest Americans at the expense of the nation’s poor.” This bill will result in approximately 7.6 million individuals losing Medicaid coverage.

Benefits from the cuts in this legislation would flow directly into the hands of the top 10th of American households, while the lowest-earning citizens would see benefits cuts to food stamps, children’s health insurance, and the elimination of successful clean energy initiatives.

Elon Musk criticized Trump’s “big beautiful bill,” which proposes increasing the federal debt ceiling to $4 trillion and doing away with tax incentives for clean energy and electric vehicles.

“I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly,” Musk told CBS News, “which increases the budget deficit, not just decreases it, and undermines the work that the [Department of Government Efficiency] team is doing.”

For the nursing home sector, this includes cuts of roughly $700 billion from Medicaid over a decade, achieved by creating reporting mandates that require beneficiaries in the safety-net insurance program to log work, education, or volunteering hours. These work requirements begin in 2026.

Restrictions on Medicaid will have a direct impact on Americans, especially those who are the neediest. Health insurance, such as Medicaid, is directly linked to health outcomes; therefore, cutting these expenses will likely lead to lower positive health outcomes. Additionally, shrinking Medicaid will also stress providers, many of which are already struggling. This could force clinics and hospitals to “scale back services or potentially close altogether.”

Minority Leader Hakeem Jefferies said:

“House Republicans promised to lower costs. Instead, Donald Trump’s One Big Ugly Bill will mean millions of families will pay higher premiums, copays, and deductibles. Hospitals will close, nursing homes will shut down and communities will suffer,” and that the “GOP Tax Scam is deeply unpopular, which is why Republicans made every effort to advance it during the dead of night.”