Republicans in Congress raced Monday to put the final touches on US President Donald Trump’s sprawling domestic policy mega-bill, led by massive cuts to social safety net programs to pay for $5 trillion in tax cuts.
Lawmakers in the House of Representatives are aiming to usher into law Trump’s pledges to widen and extend his 2017 tax relief program, while boosting border security and defense and shrinking the government.
But independent analysts have warned that the proposals could see millions of low-income Americans losing health insurance, while Democrats say the tax reforms will largely benefit the ultra-wealthy.
“This is not trimming fat from around the edges, it’s cutting to the bone,” said Frank Pallone, the top Democrat on the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee.
“The overwhelming majority of the savings in this bill will come from taking health care away from millions of Americans.”
Republicans plan committee votes Tuesday on the much-touted “big, beautiful bill” encompassing most of Trump’s domestic agenda, with final House passage before May 26 and Senate approval by July 4.
The process will test Trump’s sway over his party, with lawmakers determined to help the Republican leader cement his legacy but queasy over big cuts ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
The Republicans do not need Democratic support to pass the package, but their slim majorities in both chambers of Congress mean they will have to demonstrate almost perfect unity.
Already facing fury over sweeping federal cuts led by tech billionaire Elon Musk and blowback over Trump’s tariffs regime, they are deeply divided over how much further to squeeze spending.
Democrats released an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Sunday stating that $715 billion would be cut from health spending over a decade — resulting in 8.6 million more Americans being uninsured.
Marathon session
On the conservative flank, more than 30 House Republicans signed a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson warning that the package cannot add to the deficit and must include $2 trillion in savings.
“I’m not here to rack up an additional $20 trillion in debt over 10 years or to subsidize healthy, able-bodied adults, corrupt blue states, and monopoly hospital ceos,” fiscal hawk Chip Roy posted on X.
The House Ways and Means Committee is expected to release full details of the tax proposals later Monday, on the eve of a marathon session Tuesday to finalize the text.
The price tag is expected to swell to $5 trillion over a decade, according to the nonpartisan CBO, exceeding the $4.5 trillion permitted by a budget resolution Republicans adopted earlier this year.
Trump has suggested raising taxes to 39.6 percent on individuals earning more than $2.5 million a year, but Republicans are seen as unlikely to be on board with creating new burdens for the ultra-rich.
And it remains to be seen whether the legislation will seek to make good on some of the president’s headline election campaign pledges, including eliminating taxes on tips and overtime.
The House Agriculture Committee — which is looking for $230 billion in savings — also considers its portion of the package on Tuesday.
Moderate Republicans on the panel have been alarmed by proposals to offload more of the costs for the federal food aid program — the nation’s largest anti-hunger initiative — onto the states.
Although the House faces an intense two weeks of negotiation, the real hard deadline for passing the legislation is August, when the United States is expected to run out of cash to pay its bills.
The package includes a hike in the country’s self-imposed borrowing limit.
