Trump’s proposed “ONE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL” cuts critical funding for construction projects across the country in order to “pay for” tax cuts for billionaires and includes multiple “poison pills” intended to gut the strength of American unions, particularly for federal workers. This bill is a true “steal from the poor and give to the rich” situation.
If federal unions are gutted through the poision pills in this legislation, organized labor in the private sector will have a difficult time building up the resources needed to fight off further attacks on American workers. The federal workers unions are the canary in the coal mine in Trump and his billionaire friends’ war on working Americans.
The bill is now in the hands of the Senate. Any changes made will require it go back to the House where it barely passed the first time, but did so with only Republican votes.
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is urging lawmakers to reject five proposals included in the budget reconciliation bill proposed by House Republicans targeting federal employees’ retirement benefits and due process rights.
“If enacted, these proposals would weaken the merit-based, nonpartisan civil service system, hurt federal employees and their families, and undermine the federal workforce’s ability to deliver services to all Americans,” AFGE Acting Legislative Director Daniel Horowitz said in a letter to members of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee.
The House GOP is proposing to increase federal employee contributions to the Federal Employees Retirement System while slashing the retirement benefits they have earned – resulting in cuts to both their current take-home pay and their future retirement savings. Another proposal would eliminate a longstanding program that provides a financial bridge to employees who retire before they are able to begin collecting Social Security at age 62.
In addition, the budget bill would for the first time assess a financial fee on federal employees who file grievances of discrimination, political retaliation, and workplace abuse with the Merit Systems Protection Board – a levy intended discourage employees from pursuing such charges.
The proposals would do almost nothing to offset the $4.5 trillion package of tax cuts outlined in the budget reconciliation bill, Horowitz said.
“Indeed, perhaps paying for tax cuts is not the primary intent of the Committee’s proposals but rather to make the prospect of working for the federal government so unattractive as to drive from executive branch agencies experienced and dedicated employees who deliver services and benefits on which individuals, families, businesses, and communities in your districts depend,” he wrote.
BUILDING TRADES PERSPECTIVE
“As currently written, the House Republicans’ reconciliation bill cannot be supported by the men and women of North America’s Building Trades Unions. (NABTU) It eliminates hundreds of thousands of energy jobs for our members and includes other deeply troubling provisions,” said NABTU President Sean McGarvey. “One of our top priorities in this process has been protecting meaningful job opportunities, but that priority is being completely undermined. Job cuts for blue-collar Americans should not foot the bill for billionaire tax cuts. We’re counting on our allies in Congress to fix this bill before it heads to the House floor — and we’ll be mobilizing to ensure our voices are heard.”
What do economists think of Trump’s tax and spending bill? Here’s what Heidi Shierholz, the President of the Economic Policy Institute had to say:
“Today, the Trump administration and nearly all Republicans in the House of Representatives took another step toward advancing their top economic priority: keeping taxes for the wealthy and corporations at rock-bottom rates, by any means necessary. The budget reconciliation bill that the House passed today, H.R. 1, represents a massive redistribution of income to the richest households in the country at the expense of some of the poorest. Under this legislation, the bottom 40% of households would lose income and resources while the top 1% of households—those making nearly $800,000 a year—would gain enormously. Further, the tax cuts in the bill are such massive giveaways to the rich that despite draconian cuts for the most vulnerable, they would still increase the deficit by trillions.
“In direct contradiction to promises from President Trump and the reconciliation bill’s backers that they won’t cut Medicaid or cause pain for working-class families, this bill would:
Kick millions of low-income people off of Medicaid and threaten operations for strained hospital systems across the country, particularly in rural areas;
Make it harder for parents of children as young as age seven to qualify for food stamps;
Put millions of kids at risk of poverty by excluding their families from the Child Tax Credit.
“In exchange for these massive spending cuts to justify a $3.8 trillion tax cut for the wealthy, this bill offers workers almost nothing—just paltry tax gimmicks that put pennies into the pockets of a small sliver of the working class. The bill’s immigration provisions are purely punitive—imposing fees on migrants making asylum claims and giving the Trump administration billions of dollars to unleash internal immigration enforcement within our borders, looking for any excuse to deport or harass immigrants and their families. Voting for this bill’s passage represents an ultimate betrayal of U.S. workers and the economy. The Senate should reject this bill.”
CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS’ BUDGET ANALYSIS
“Last week, House Republicans released long-awaited tax and budget proposals that would provide the top 5 percent of taxpayers with about $1.5 trillion in tax breaks. This windfall for the ultrawealthy would be paid for by gutting programs that create American jobs and help Americans afford the cost of basic needs, such as health care and groceries. If enacted, the bill would amount to the largest cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in history; kill jobs; and jack up the cost of living in every region of the country. It’s no wonder a new analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) finds that the bill reduces resources for the poorest households while increasing them for the highest earners.
“Nationally, the bill—along with additional Trump administration health changes—would strip nearly 14 million Americans of health insurance coverage by 2034. The CBO estimated that 8.6 million Americans would become uninsured—primarily from losing Medicaid—because of the Energy and Commerce Committee’s portions of the bill alone. This number is preliminary and expected to grow. Another 5.1 million Americans would become uninsured because of Congress’ refusal to extend enhanced premium tax credits for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplaces that help people afford their premiums as well as additional regulatory changes proposed by the Trump administration. The implications of these cuts across states are staggering: 1.8 million fewer Floridians and 1.6 million fewer Texans would have coverage by 2034. Coverage losses will exceed 100,000 people in 30 states, and 13 states will see coverage losses at or above 300,000 people.
“Similarly, in the case of food assistance, nearly 11 million people could see at least some cut in benefits due to expansions to burdensome SNAP paperwork requirements included in the legislation. About 9.2 million of these people would be at risk because, for the first time, the plan applies the requirements to families with school-aged children and older Americans. An additional 1.6 million people live in areas without enough jobs and would be at risk of losing their benefits entirely from the bill’s reductions in flexibility for states to receive waivers from these requirements. Additionally, the legislation proposes shifting a portion of costs the federal government currently pays on to states, which could also jeopardize beneficiaries’ SNAP eligibility.
“Finally, the House Republicans’ plan to eliminate the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean energy tax credits could put as many as 686,000 jobs (both operational and construction) at risk. Since the passage of the clean energy tax credits in August 2022, companies have invested $321 billion in the manufacturing and deployment of clean energy, clean vehicles, electrification of homes and businesses, and carbon management, leading to the creation of more than 2,300 new facilities that created over 300,000 jobs across the country. Another $522 billion and 686,000 jobs (both operational and construction) have been announced but are still outstanding and are likely to be cancelled if Congress repeals some clean energy tax credits and makes others unusable due to unworkable red tape, as proposed in the House bill.”
Tristin Amezcua-Hogan is the Editor of The Labor Beacon and a member of LIUNA Local 264. Tristin also serves as the Director of Communications for the Greater Kansas City AFL-CIO and the Chair of the Kansas City Regional Transit Alliance.
Tristin grew up as the son of a UA Local 669 member in Tecumseh, KS and the great-nephew of George C. Amis, longtime leader of the United Rubberworkers (now USW Local 307) in Kansas. Growing up in rural Kansas as the child of teen parents, Tristin quickly came to appreciate the life-changing benefit of a union job.
Tristin and his partner, Rebeca Amezcua-Hogan, are residents of the Westside, Kansas City, MO's historic Mexican neighborhood. They are proud members of Kansas City's New Reform Temple.
