WASHINGTON – The drama and stakes could not have been higher here this week as Republicans in Congress used their political muscle to approve President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda, which would raise the nation’s debt ceiling, cut deeply into poverty programs and make permanent a massive package of tax breaks.
The U.S. House approved the massive budget bill Thursday on a 218-214 vote, with all Minnesota Democrats voting “no” and all Minnesota Republicans voting “yes.” Two Republicans – Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania – voted against the bill, but it would have taken four GOP defections to derail it.
This week’s drama began when Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” was narrowly approved by the U.S. Senate Tuesday during a marathon voting session, with Vice President JD Vance breaking a 50-50 tie after three Republicans joined all Democrats in opposing the legislation.
Democrats, including Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., tried but failed to amend the legislation, which would cut more than $1 trillion from Medicaid, other federal health care programs and food stamps.
Klobuchar tried to derail a provision that would shift some of the cost of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the official name for food stamps, to the states. Currently, the federal government pays 100% of the cost of the benefits.
Klobuchar also tried to undermine an effort by Republican leaders to win the support of Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski – who had had grave reservations about the bill – by exempting Alaska from the proposed cost shift in the SNAP program.
Murkowski, who could have killed the massive budget bill, was blasted on social media for her vote and for her long explanation of why she flipped to support the bill. She admitted “while we have worked to improve the present bill for Alaska, it is not good enough for the rest of our nation – and we all know it.”
Then the bill was rushed to the House for final approval in the hopes it could be signed by Trump at a celebratory event on July 4.
House Democrats tried to slow a final vote on the bill, with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., speaking for hours against it on the House floor.
Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-6th District, focused on the benefits of the tax breaks – saying little of the legislation’s cuts to Medicaid and other social programs – in trying to win public support for the budget bill, which polls showed was becoming increasingly unpopular.
“Democrats like @RepJeffries who oppose the One Big Beautiful Bill are opposing the largest tax cut in history for workers and middle-income families,” Emmer posted on X.
The GOP lawmaker also posted testimonials from Minnesotans who said they would benefit from the tax cuts, including a single mother from Lexington who works as a waitress and said that keeping all of her tips would help her family buy groceries and pay for her daughter’s hockey expenses.
But, under the legislation, tips would still be subject to Social Security taxes and the exemption from federal income taxes would last only three years.
Meanwhile, the tax breaks, which would benefit the wealthiest Americans the most, would be permanent, costing more than $5 trillion over the next 10 years.
And the bill’s savings from the safety net cuts would not be enough to offset the cost of those tax breaks, which are projected to add more than $3 trillion to the federal debt by 2034.
Emmer also said the legislation would “eliminate taxes on Social Security for 88% of America’s seniors.”
“That’s the largest tax break for seniors in American history!” Emmer posted on X.
Although Trump campaigned on a promise of ending federal Social Security taxes, the budget bill does no such thing. But it would provide a new $6,000 deduction for seniors reporting less than $75,000 in income, with the deduction phasing out gradually for those above that income threshold.
While the tax package will benefit upper income and some middle-income earners, the Congressional Budget Office said the legislation will raise taxes on the poorest Americans by up to $1,600 per year.
The politics of the ‘big, beautiful bill’
Rep. Pete Stauber, R-8th District, said the “historic legislation” would “deliver a new Golden Age for the American people” in a statement released after Thursday’s vote.
Stauber praised the legislation’s “largest tax cuts in our nation’s history” and its rollback of regulations on the oil and gas industry, as well as the millions the bill would provide to bolster federal immigration efforts – including the completion of a border wall – and the nation’s military.
Yet the bill’s cuts to Medicaid could endanger the fiscal health of rural hospitals and clinics, including some in his Iron Range-based district.
Democrats have made those cuts to Medicaid and other poverty programs a rallying cry in their opposition to the bill.
“The impact of this bill on the United States is hard to quantify,” said Rep. Kelly Morrison, D-3rd District, a practicing OB-GYN before she was elected to Congress. “It will be a national security threat because it will make Americans sicker and poorer.”
Morrison on Wednesday joined other white lab coat-wearing members of a newly formed Democratic Doctors Caucus to protest the Medicaid cuts outside House Speaker Mike Johnson’s office in the U.S. Capitol.
Morrison said the Medicaid cuts, which would be obtained largely through the imposition of new work requirements and other reporting mandates, would result in the closure of hospitals, clinics and nursing homes that are heavily dependent on Medicaid revenue.
The legislation also shifts more of the cost of the program, which is shared between the federal government and the states, onto states like Minnesota.
In an emailed statement, Gov. Tim Walz accused Emmer and Stauber of “voting to tear away health care from a quarter million Minnesotans so Trump can give tax cuts to billionaires.”
“We will do everything we can to help Minnesotans impacted by their Medicaid cuts, but we’ll never fully reverse the damage they’ve caused,” Walz said.
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-5th District, said the bill represented “the biggest transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich.”
Democrats hope the unpopular measures in the bill will help them win back the U.S. House in next year’s midterm elections.
But many of those unpopular provisions, including the Medicaid work requirements, won’t be effective until after Americans go to the polls in November 2026. The tax breaks, however, will be effective immediately.
One cut to health care that will take effect before the election is the end of enhanced subsidies that benefit those who purchase insurance through an Affordable Care Act exchange.
Enhanced subsidies lowered insurance premiums for policies purchased through MNsure for about 90,000 Minnesotans.
The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that about 6 million Americans will lose health insurance coverage because of the end of the enhanced subsidies.
In case you missed it:
-The assassination of state Rep. Melissa Hortman and the near-fatal shooting of state Sen. John Hoffman has rekindled a debate about political violence. Reporter Shadi Bushra has some facts and stats.
-Minnesota has been derided as a ‘sanctuary’ state that fails to help federal agents in their quest to deport immigrants, but there is a growing number of Minnesota sheriffs who have signed agreements to work with ICE.
-Skateborders rejoice! Brian Arola has a story on new grants that will fund new skate parks.
Your questions and comments
Citing the story of a co-worker from Africa whose brother was arrested for dissent – and later executed – a reader decried the hardball tactics of federal immigration agents.
“Fear and intimidation is the MO of an authoritarian regime,” the reader wrote. “This is exactly the playbook of Trump although he is probably oblivious to many of the horrendous actions of his supposed subordinates as his focus is and always will be on himself.”
Please keep your comments, and any questions, coming. I’ll try my best to respond. Please contact me at aradelat@minnpost.com.
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