The Big Beautiful Bill was dragged over the Senate finish line with the support of just half the chamber, plus one tiebreaking vote from Vice President J.D. Vance. It still requires House approval before it is sent to the president’s desk for a signature. The tax and spend plan contains nuggets of President Donald Trump’s agenda, including his 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), a sunsetting tax cut many Americans have become accustomed to.
Without the passage of the BBB, TCJA will expire Dec. 31, certain tax rules will revert to pre-TCJA levels, and then taxpayers will feel the burn Democrats voted for.
“Failure to pass this legislation would result in a $4 trillion tax hike,” according to the White House. But a huge tax hit to the American people is not enough to move half the Senate to support the BBB.
Tuesday’s vote was passed with 50 Republican senators in favor. All 45 Democrats voted no. They were joined by three Republicans, Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Susan Collins of Maine, and Rand Paul of Kentucky. Also, two independents voted no, Sen. Angus King of Maine and Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
At least we know Republicans are willing to break from the pack and think on their own. But we won’t forget those Republicans who voted with Democrats to increase taxes. Because of them, this vote was way too close.
No one is surprised that Democrats voted in unison. Democrats are forever working against Trump instead of for voters. They would rather win a political battle than let regular Americans keep the TCJA standard deduction, which more than double what it used to be.
Maybe senators opposed to tax savings for constituents don’t understand how tax breaks can affect someone earning the average U.S. income of $62,000. After all, that is much lower than a senator’s tax bracket.
For example, Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., has a net worth of something like $251 million. Warner railed against the BBB, making all kinds of dramatic social media posts before the vote. He tried to connect with regular people in one post by waving an Egg McMuffin in one hand and a McDonalds hashbrown in the other. “Trying to keep the fuel. Pretty damn tired,” he explained, his hair still perfect after allegedly working 24 hours straight. I’d wager $4 trillion the breakfast was just for show and he never took a bite.
For rich senators like Warner who may be unclear about how tax burdens are felt by the people he represents, here is an explainer: Everyone has basic living expenses. That is why the IRS allows some income, called the “standard deduction,” to be deducted from your “taxable income.” The bigger the standard deduction, the less you own in taxes.
Before TCJA, the standard deduction was $6,500 for single filers, $9,550 for head of household filers, and $13,000 for married taxpayers filing jointly. With TCJA, in 2024, the standard deduction is now $14,600 for single filers, $21,900 for head of household filers, and $29,200 for married filing jointly. All the Democrats voted to revert back to the old standard deduction and impose a $4 trillion tax increase on the American people.
To justify his vote, like springtime on the farm, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is spreading manure everywhere, trying to recast the BBB in dire terms. People will die! Children will starve!
If Schumer really believed that, he would do more than blow hot air and make a few social media posts.
The BBB aims to stop Medicare fraud. Fewer cheaters wasting money will protect Medicare and Medicaid. The White House pledges there will be no cuts to Medicaid, but it will no longer be given to illegal aliens, and the BBB enforces work requirements. Able bodied people with no children to care for will be expected to put in a few hours of time. Not a full 40 hours. It won’t kill them.
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., is another senator who voted to kill the TCJA with its current maximum child tax credit of $2,000 per child and revert back to a maximum of $1,000. He voted against the $500 “other dependent credit” (ODC) that gives taxpayers credit for certain dependents ineligible for the child credit. Without the TCJA, the ODC goes away.
Booker doesn’t care. He says he is “Heartbroken,” that the BBB passed in the Senate. Get that? Heartbroken that he was unable to separate taxpayers from $4 trillion of their money. That money is needed to “Protect Planned Parenthood,” he says.
Booker repeats the same lies his entire party is pitching: that Medicare is being gutted. Booker is working to stop the BBB from passing in the House. No thanks, Mr. Booker. You already had your vote. You can stand down now.
The TCJA currently offers or sweetens deductions related to job transfer moving expenses, charitable giving, mortgage interest, losses during disasters, certain gambling losses, estate, and gift taxes. These are the taxes voters feel in daily life, and they would notice if senators swapped them out for a $4 trillion tax hike.
Beth Brelje is an elections correspondent for The Federalist. She is an award-winning investigative journalist with decades of media experience.
