Prostate Policy Pulse - July 16, 2025 H.R. 1 - The Impact of Budget Reconciliation We talked much of the spring about reconciliation legislation and Medicaid cuts, and on July 4 President Trump signed into law H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. It was a demonstration of his priorities as well as his influence over the Republican Party and, by extension, Congress. It consumed all the air in the room in Congress for months, as the House worked to pass a bill, the Senate passed a different version, and there followed a struggle to have the House pass the Senate’s version, including personal lobbying by the President. In the end, Speaker Mike Johnson, Majority Leader John Thune, and President Trump were successful in keeping enough (actually, almost all) of their caucuses voting the party line. Remember, Republicans control extremely slim majorities in both chambers of Congress, so as long as they hang together, they have the 50 percent majorities required to pass legislation through reconciliation procedure, just barely. What’s in the bill?The bill does many things - it is, as the title suggests, big. And, because it was using the budget reconciliation procedure, which allows for passage by a simple 50 percent majority, all provisions had to have a budgetary impact, as determined by the Senate parliamentarian. It includes many tax provisions - including the extension of existing tax cuts, increase in the standard deduction and child tax credit, and the elimination of taxes on tips and overtime for a portion of such income. Read More... Access to Healthcare Advocacy Blog Posts More for you
H.R. 1 - The Impact of Budget Reconciliation We talked much of the spring about reconciliation legislation and Medicaid cuts, and on July 4 President Trump signed into law H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. It was a demonstration of his priorities as well as his influence over the Republican Party and, by extension, Congress. It consumed all the air in the room in Congress for months, as the House worked to pass a bill, the Senate passed a different version, and there followed a struggle to have the House pass the Senate’s version, including personal lobbying by the President. In the end, Speaker Mike Johnson, Majority Leader John Thune, and President Trump were successful in keeping enough (actually, almost all) of their caucuses voting the party line. Remember, Republicans control extremely slim majorities in both chambers of Congress, so as long as they hang together, they have the 50 percent majorities required to pass legislation through reconciliation procedure, just barely. What’s in the bill?The bill does many things - it is, as the title suggests, big. And, because it was using the budget reconciliation procedure, which allows for passage by a simple 50 percent majority, all provisions had to have a budgetary impact, as determined by the Senate parliamentarian. It includes many tax provisions - including the extension of existing tax cuts, increase in the standard deduction and child tax credit, and the elimination of taxes on tips and overtime for a portion of such income. Read More...
