House GOP Unveils Its Reconciled ‘One Big, Beautiful Bill’

Updated on May 13.

On Monday, House Republicans released a draft of the “one big, beautiful bill” requested by President Donald Trump.

The bill would:

• Make Trump’s 2017 tax cuts permanent, which includes a reduction of the individual income tax rates, which the House GOP says would save the average American family $1,700 annually. 

• Maintain an increased standard deduction, child tax credit and estate tax credit. 

• Enact a series of tax cuts including “no tax on tips,” overtime pay and Social Security benefits.

• Extends paid family and medical leave credit.

• Exempts interest on car loans from taxes. 

• Tripling of the state and local tax deduction, also known as the SALT deduction. 

• Increases the debt ceiling by $4 trillion. 

• Create a Money account for growth and advancement, or “MAGA account.” It would be a savings account for kids that, in its pilot stage, would place $1,000 in each account for qualifying children. To be eligible, a child would need to be a U.S. citizen at birth, have a Social Security number and be born between Dec. 31, 2024 and Jan. 1, 2029. The accounts would be tax-exempt. 

• Cuts Medicaid spending and creates stricter eligibility and work requirements to access the health care program.

• Cuts the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) spending, offloads some benefit costs to states and creates stricter work requirements for eligibility. 

• Cancels multiple green energy programs. 

• Increases spending for mass deportation.

• Increases military spending. 

• Eliminates tax-exempt status for groups the State Department deems are supportive of “terrorists.” 

The bill falls largely in line with the requests made by Trump in his $1.7 trillion 2026 budget proposal he released on May 2. It called on Congress to drastically cut non-defense spending and increase spending for defense and homeland security, including border security.

Trump’s proposal has been a key influence in the GOP’s budget resolution process. Congress does not have to adhere strictly to the president’s wishes, but thus far, this GOP-led Congress has generally followed the president’s lead.

House Speaker Mike Johnson has imposed a Memorial Day deadline to pass a reconciliation bill. To pass the budget, Republicans will still have to contend with intra-party misalignment in the process.

Here’s a recap of how the budget process has played out this year:

• On April 10, the House GOP passed a sweeping budget blueprint that paves the way for Trump’s fiscal plans to become a reality. The measure passed by a razor-thin margin of 216 to 214. 

• The House GOP adopted a framework identical to the one approved by the Senate on April 5, which unlocks a process called reconciliation. 

• Legislators must now reconcile a budget that includes specific details on cuts and revenue sources, which would require only a simple 51-vote majority to pass. The reconciliation process also prevents Democrats from filibustering. 

Here’s what is in Trump’s budget framework:

Trump’s proposal is known as a “skinny budget,” in that it’s a summary of his proposals, not the full budget, which includes more comprehensive details.

The biggest cuts on Trump’s wish list include state and international programs (-84%); National Science Foundation (-56%); Environmental Protection Agency (-54%); Housing and Urban Development (-44%); Department of Labor (-35%); Small Business Administration (-33%); Department of the Interior (-30%); Department of Health and Human Services (-26%); and NASA (-24%). Trump instructed additional cuts to the Treasury Department, Department of Agriculture, Department of Commerce, Department of Education and the Justice Department.

The Social Security Administration budget was unchanged.

The only departments to receive funding increases include the Department of Energy (+3%); Department of Veterans Affairs (+4%); Transportation Department (+6%); and Department of Defense (+13%). As mentioned earlier, Trump allocated a 65% increase to the Department of Homeland Security’s budget.

Since Trump took office, he has relied on executive orders and the efforts of his so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, to fulfill his priorities. Those have included downsizing the federal workforce, as well as probing and dismantling certain government departments. Trump has also launched a bevy of tariffs that have sparked uncertainty in the markets and among economists, as well as consumers and business leaders.