As we prepare to celebrate our Nation’s 249th Independence Day, for the first time in years, we will pay less at the grocery store. According to a survey conducted by the American Farm Bureau Federation, a cookout for ten people will cost around $70.92, which is down 30 cents from last year. While the price of some meat products is still high due to diseases and supply issues, others cost less, signaling an ease in inflation. This positive change did not happen by accident. President Donald Trump and Congress have been working to reduce the cost-of-living expenses for families across the country.
There have been fireworks in Washington, D.C. this week as Congress worked overtime to meet the Independence Day deadline for Trump’s signature legislation to implement much of his agenda. House and Senate Republicans have been working through the final steps of the reconciliation bill, aptly named the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1). The Senate spent the last several weeks making changes to the version sent over by the House before Memorial Day. The last steps of the legislative process began late last week.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) kicked off votes Friday evening after the various committees marked up the bill. Immediately, Senate Democrats pulled a procedural move to have the nearly 900-page bill read by the Clerks on the Senate floor. This wasted over 15 hours of floor time spanning through Saturday night. Afterward, they moved onto a vote-a-rama where a historic 45 amendments were considered. The most notable amendment was offered by Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), who stripped out a moratorium on states to regulate AI for 10 years. She commented:
Until Congress passes federally preemptive legislation like the Kids Online Safety Act and an online privacy framework, we can’t block states from making laws that protect their citizens.
It was not an easy task, but the Senate finally passed the bill on Tuesday. The Senate was divided 50-50, and Vice President J.D. Vance had to vote to break the tie in favor of the bill. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME), Rand Paul (R-KY), and Thom Tillis (R-NC) were the three Republicans who voted against the bill.
Then the bill, as amended, went back to the House. But not all House Republicans were ready to pass the Senate version. Many were concerned that the Senate changes made the bill much more moderate. The Senate version increased the debt ceiling $1 trillion more than the House version, only defunded Medicaid funding of Planned Parenthood for one year, and did not roll back all the Green New Deal provisions from the Biden administration. Plus, the Senate Parliamentarian ruled that defunding gender transition procedures through Medicaid did not fall within the rules of the reconciliation process.
Despite these blows, the Senate version is more conservative in other ways. The House bill included a tax credit for those who donate to scholarships for school choice. Somehow, language was added to this program that would have required private schools that accept student recipients of these private scholarships to comply with regulations from the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) — a federal law. These “strings” would hurt smaller private schools and subject all schools to increased regulations from future administrations. Thankfully, the Senate removed this terrible requirement. Additionally, the Senate made corporate tax breaks permanent. The House had only made this relief temporary. This positive change will give long-term relief to consumers.
All-in-all, the bill contains most of what the House passed in May. The 2017 Trump tax cuts have been extended, and the Child Tax Credit will be permanently increased for 40 million families. The House Ways and Means Committee has calculated a $284 billion increase in economic growth and an increase of 7.2 million jobs. The bill also contains $150 billion to secure our border through building more of the Southern Border wall, fully funding ICE and border control agents, and ensuring the resources are available to deport illegal aliens.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) told House Members that they had to take the bill as-is with no amendments. This was because any changes to the bill by that Chamber would require the bill to be sent back to the Senate. Any new provisions would have to be ruled on by the Parliamentarian again, with the threat of those policies being stripped out. The more moderate Republicans, such as Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), would require more concessions to vote in favor again. There would be no way it could come back more conservative.
House Republicans had meetings all day Wednesday and were finally able to pass a procedural vote to go the bill early Thursday morning. It appears that Speaker Johnson and House Republicans now have enough votes to pass the Senate language and get the bill to the President’s desk. The slow, deliberative process that has played out over the last several months on the reconciliation bill is not a flaw, but the method America’s Founders envisioned. Members have listened to their constituents, state legislators, and Governors and gone through the required committee mark-ups. They have crafted a piece of legislation with balances the interests of all Americans and will implement the agenda that Trump ran on during the election.
This Independence Day, we can celebrate the system that our Founding Fathers put into place. We live in a nation governed “by the people and for the people.” We currently have leaders in our federal government who are working hard to respect the sovereignty of the states and ensure that every American can enjoy the freedoms that our Constitution bestows. Perhaps in years to come, we can enjoy an even cheaper cookout as well, thanks to the One Big, Beautiful Bill!
