On Friday, US President Donald Trump signed a new law that will bring big changes to the US. The law includes tax cuts for people and businesses. But it also cuts spending on health care and other programs that help Americans. The law will add trillions of dollars to the money that the US government owes.
The new law is being called the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”. Mr. Trump has been working hard to try to get the bill passed. There was barely enough support in Congress. It passed in the Senate only with the extra vote of Vice President JD Vance. In the House, the bill passed by 218 to 214, with all of the Democrats and two Republicans voting against it.
As he signed the bill on Friday, Mr. Trump said, “America’s winning, winning, winning like never before.”
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Mr. Trump has been working hard to try to get the bill passed. There was barely enough support in Congress. It passed in the Senate only with the extra vote of Vice President JD Vance. In the House, the bill passed 218 to 214. Above, Mr. Vance arriving at the US Capitol to break the tie vote.
The new law is a big win for Mr. Trump. So far, most of the changes Mr. Trump has made in his second term have been through special orders that didn’t require approval from Congress. Now Mr. Trump has gotten a major new law passed.
Though Mr. Trump is pleased with his new law, it’s not very popular among voters. In one recent poll, 55% of US voters opposed the bill, and just 29% supported it.
The law makes big changes to the way the US government collects taxes and spends money. Though the law cuts taxes for most people, over 70% of the value of these cuts will go to the 20% that make the most money. The law turns some temporary tax cuts for businesses into permanent cuts.
(Source: White House [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.)
The changes in the law mean that the US government will be taking in about $4.5 trillion ($4,500 billion) less in taxes. To make up for some of the money that was lost through these tax cuts, the law makes many deep cuts into programs that support ordinary Americans.
The law makes the biggest cut ever to the government health care program Medicaid, cutting about $1 trillion ($1,000 billion) from the program. That will mean that around 17 million Americans will lose health care coverage. The law also cuts spending on programs that help people who are having trouble getting enough food to eat.
The new law adds about $153 billion in military spending, as well as $178 billion for programs to limit immigration. The law includes money to restart the building of a huge wall between the US and Mexico.
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The bill is expected to add about $3.3 trillion ($3,300 billion) to the US national debt. The national debt is the amount of money that the US government owes. Before the bill passed, the US already owed roughly $36.2 trillion ($36,200 billion). Above, a “clock” showing the US national debt last December.
Mr. Trump has been focused on creating energy from fossil fuels like oil and natural gas. This goal is clearly supported in the new law. The law also cuts spending on some projects designed to help fight climate change, and ends some programs that encourage electric vehicles and clean energy.
The law is expected to add about $3.3 trillion ($3,300 billion) to the US national debt. The national debt is the amount of money that the US government owes. Before the bill passed, the US already owed roughly $36.2 trillion ($36,200 billion).
Did You Know…?
Numbers in the trillions are so large they’re hard to understand. One way to think about the US national debt is to imagine that everyone in the US owed an equal part of the debt. If that were true, before the new bill, each person in the US would have owed over $105,000. After the new law, each person would owe over $115,000.