In a 51-50 vote, with the tie-breaking vote from Vice President J.D. Vance, the Senate voted Tuesday in favor of “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” or as the National Urban League has coined it, the “Big Ugly Bill” — a sweeping budget-and-tax package championed by President Donald Trump and many Senate Republicans.
Critics label it not just a fiscal overhaul but part of the overall Project 2025 blueprint for centralized executive authority, civil rights rollback, and Christian nationalist governance.
“Today, Donald Trump and Republicans made crystal clear where their priorities lie – not with working Americans, but with billionaires and big corporations,” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.). “While Republicans give the super-rich and mega-corporations huge tax cuts, they are stripping millions of Americans of their Medicaid coverage, driving up health care costs by letting Affordable Care Act tax cuts expire, gutting nutrition assistance for families, eliminating clean energy jobs, and so much more.”
The Maryland Democratic senator offered a warning about what could happen for Americans as a result of the legislation.
“Virtually all working families will face higher costs if this bill becomes law, whether through the effects of the drastic cuts to health care, higher energy costs, or the impacts of exploding our national debt by nearly $4 trillion in just the next 10 years,” he added.
At its core, the bill preserves Trump-era tax cuts for the wealthy while slashing vital aid programs. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the plan would eliminate $793 billion in Medicaid funding — with 10.9 million fewer Americans insured by 2034 — and reduce SNAP spending by over $1 trillion, combined with ACA benefit cuts. Black Americans — disproportionately reliant on these programs—stand to bear the heaviest burden.
“There is nothing ‘beautiful’ about millions losing access to Medicaid and SNAP benefits or about the closure of medical centers in rural communities. Elected leaders placed the desires of the one percent above the needs of those they swore to represent, marking one of the most blatant betrayals of public trust in our lifetime,” said Monica Simpson, executive director of SisterSong: Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective, in a statement submitted to The Washington Informer. “If signed into law, this will make it harder to access reliable, quality care, pushing our communities further to the margins and ultimately threatening the safety and well-being of all Americans.”
Top 5 Ways This Bill Hurts Black America Today:
- $793 B Medicaid Cuts & Work Requirements
- The bill slashes Medicaid by $793 billion over 10 years, with $344 billion tied to restrictive work requirements that would leave 10.9 million people uninsured including many Black adults.
- SNAP Cuts Costing States Billions
- With over $1 trillion cut overall, SNAP losses include $295 billion directly trimmed and up to $128 billion shifted to state budgets. Since Black households rely on SNAP at nearly double the rate of white households, this threatens deepened hunger in Black communities.
- Student Loan Forgiveness Repeal Worsens Racial Debt Gap
- Black borrowers carry an average of $52,726 in student debt—$25,000 more than white peers. Stripping relief cements this disparity and stalls wealth accumulation.
- Child Tax Credit Excluded for Immigrant Parents
- Denying the $2,000 annual credit to parents lacking Social Security numbers removes up to $12,000 over six years for three-child families—targeting Black immigrant households and pushing them deeper into poverty.
- Endowment Taxes Threaten HBCU Resources
- New tiered taxes on university endowment income could cost Howard and similar HBCUs millions in lost funds, reducing scholarships and support for Black students.
These impacts are not theoretical—they amount to real dollar losses and real human costs: higher medical debt, increased hunger, lifelong financial setbacks, and weakened institutional support.
Civil rights advocates called the bill a targeted economic assault on Black America.“Only billionaires and massive corporations would have the means to seek justice,” National Urban League President Marc Morial wrote in a June 29 statement, particularly referencing a provision in the bill that would require anyone suing the federal government for a violation of their rights to post expensive bonds to cover potential costs before a court issues an order to stop that violation. “The right to petition the government for a redress of grievances, enshrined in the First Amendment, would be denied to ordinary Americans.”
