For the Trump Administration, July 4 didn’t just represent a national holiday—it was the day President Donald Trump finally signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a massive budget reconciliation bill, into law.

After requiring Vice President JD Vance to break a tie in the Senate with a vote of 51-50 on July 1, the bill finally passed the House of Representatives on July 3 with a vote of 218-214. The budget act, which has been in the works for months, contains major tax cuts, border security funding provisions, and reductions to healthcare and welfare programs.

“It’s the most popular bill ever signed in the history of our country—whether you’re military or anybody else—this is the single most popular bill ever signed,” Trump said at a White House military event on July 4. 

Despite Trump’s declaration of its popularity, though, the act has generated controversy among both Congress members and the public. Five Republican Congressmen ultimately voted against the bill, and several other reluctant members posed hurdles on the bill’s journey to the president’s desk. Friction among and within parties has made one of Congress’ only annual attempts at a budget reconciliation bill a contentious one.

Expanding National Debt: Fiscal Conservatism Clashes With The MAGA Agenda

While Trump has characterized the One Big Beautiful Bill Act as “everyone’s bill,” the division it has sowed has expanded beyond just partisan lines and into the GOP itself. Many fiscal conservatives have been quick to criticize the act for the $3.3 trillion it is projected to add to the federal deficit over the next decade.

“Although there were some conservative wins in the budget reconciliation bill (OBBBA), I voted ‘No’ on final passage because it will significantly increase U.S. budget deficits in the near term, negatively impacting all Americans through sustained inflation and high interest rates,” Thomas Massie, one of two Republican House members to vote against the bill, posted on X following its passage. 

The projected debt is largely caused by $4.5 trillion in tax cuts. The act will extend tax cuts imposed during Trump’s first term, which were set to end in December if the bill didn’t pass. Further tax cuts apply to tips and overtime pay, while the act also expands the cap on state and local deductions (SALT) from $10,000 to $40,000. The House Ways and Means Committee estimates that the average American family will take home an additional $10,900 a year. The final version of the bill also includes staggered tax breaks for clean energy, which the original House bill had sought to exclude. The Ways and Means Committee has labeled the bill the “largest tax cut in American history.”

“For two years, the Ways and Means Committee has been preparing for this moment, and thanks to President Trump’s overwhelming victory in November, a historic, pro-growth, pro-America tax bill that delivers on the president’s promises to American workers and families will soon become law,” said Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith. “Permanency for the successful provisions of the 2017 Trump tax cuts, no tax on tips, no tax on overtime pay, no tax on car loan interest, and tax relief for seniors, along with tax incentives that reward businesses who manufacture more in the U.S. and hire more American workers will soon usher in the Golden Age of America.”

Along with significant tax cuts, the act also includes provisions for $350 billion in spending directed towards strengthening border security, as well as $25 billion towards developing the Golden Dome missile defense system. Other funds are earmarked towards Pentagon defense development and other national security protection initiatives.

The Costs: Medicaid and SNAP

In order to offset new border security spending and reduced revenue from tax cuts, Republicans in Congress have turned to other programs to cut spending for—namely, Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

The act requires childless, able-bodied adults to work at least 80 hours per month to qualify for Medicaid, which could put over 12 million Americans in jeopardy of losing their healthcare. The final version of the bill further restricts Medicaid by lowering provider taxes, which help states fund the program’s costs. 

The act also provides reforms to SNAP by requiring states to contribute to the program, which has historically been fully funded by the federal government, and imposing similar work requirements for individuals who rely on the nutritional program. These changes won’t occur until 2028; however, the cuts to SNAP as well as Medicaid have already received considerable backlash.

“My vote against this bill stems primarily from the harmful impact it will have on Medicaid, affecting low-income families and rural health care providers like our hospitals and nursing homes,” Maine Senator Susan Collins, one of the three Senate Republicans to vote ‘no,’ wrote in a statement. 

Republican politicians have characterized the cuts as necessary to fund the bill’s other costs. Vice President JD Vance described border security as the government’s most important priority, writing on X that “everything else—the CBO [Congressional Budget Office] score, the proper baseline, the minutiae of the Medicaid policy—is immaterial compared to the ICE money and immigration enforcement provisions.”

How the people feel, though, is a different story. A June Pew Research Center poll indicated that 54% of Americans anticipate that the act will have a largely negative impact on the country, with just 30% predicting a positive effect. 47% expect to personally face negative impacts.

While thousands of families stand to benefit from the tax cuts, many others risk losing their healthcare or food security. Politicians themselves will likely also be affected by the success or fallout of one of the nation’s biggest budget reconciliation bills in recent years—with Congressional midterm elections just over a year away, political analysts are already making predictions about how the bill may impact Congress’ makeup. Whether the bill is “beautiful” is up to personal interpretation, but Republicans and Democrats alike agree that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act stands to have a big impact on the country.