06.23.25

Myths vs. Facts: Republicans’ Reconciliation Bill Will Supercharge the Economy and Preserve Programs Americans Rely On

Democrats Play Fast and Loose with the Facts When It Comes to Senate Republicans’ Tax-Cutting Legislation

MYTH: REPUBLICANS ARE CUTTING MEDICAID BENEFITS FOR MOTHERS, CHILDREN, PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES, AND THE ELDERLY

“Reminder: Republicans’ billionaire-first budget bill puts YOUR healthcare on the chopping block.” – Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.)

THE FACTS: MEDICAID WAS CREATED TO HELP THESE VERY PEOPLE, AND REPUBLICANS’ BILL PUTS THE PROGRAM ON A MORE STABLE FISCAL TRAJECTORY SO IT WILL CONTINUE TO BE THERE FOR THOSE WHO NEED IT

  • Republicans’ bill establishes work requirements for able-bodied adults who don’t have dependent children 14 years of age or younger, or a disabled individual in their care.(U.S. Senate Committee on Finance: Chairman Crapo Releases Finance Committee Reconciliation Text – 6/16/25)
  • Republicans’ reconciliation bill removes noncitizens from Medicaid and addresses the issue of illegal immigrants receiving state Medicaid coverage.(U.S. Senate Committee on Finance: Chairman Crapo Releases Finance Committee Reconciliation Text – 6/16/25)
  • Democrats expanded access to Medicaid beyond those who the program was intended to cover and made it unsustainable:
    • “The Biden administration… enacted several major Medicaid rule changes with giant fiscal costs,” including a rule finalized in 2024 that keeps people on Medicaid “when they are no longer eligible,” while restricting the times “when states may verify changes in eligibility.”(Paragon Health Institute: Biden’s Medicaid Changes: High Costs, Misguided Policy – 11/6/24)
    • “Per the Congressional Budget Office, federal outlays on the program have been positively soaring, from $409 billion in 2019 to $615 billion in 2023, and projected to hit $655 billion in 2025. That’s a 50% jump from 2019 to 2023, and 60% to 2025.” (New York Post: Editorial: ‘Deadly’ GOP ‘cuts’ don’t even touch Medicaid’s 50% growth since 2019 – 6/3/25)
    • “Over the last decade, Medicaid has outpaced the growth of the other two largest federal entitlement programs: Social Security and Medicare.” (Cato Institute: Medicaid Is Driving Deficits: Republicans Are Scarcely Tapping the Brakes – 5/13/25)
    • Democrat-run states expanded their state Medicaid programs to illegal immigrants and several have been forced “to roll back or freeze the programs because of budget woes…” (The Wall Street Journal: Democratic States Expanded Healthcare to Undocumented Immigrants. Now They’re Rolling It Back. – 6/19/25)

MYTH: REPUBLICANS ARE CUTTING FOOD AND HEALTH PROGRAMS SUCH AS SNAP

“While Donald Trump creates instability in our economy, Republicans are working to cut food & health care programs like SNAP and Medicaid. The so-called ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ will hurt hard working Americans to pay for tax cuts for billionaires. Plain and simple.” – Senate Democrat Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.)

THE FACTS: SENATE REPUBLICANS’ BILL MAINTAINS SNAP BENEFITS FOR THOSE WHO NEED IT MOST WHILE REVERSING THE FINANCIALLY DESTABILIZING POLICIES ENACTED BY DEMOCRATS

  • The bill “reduces waste, promotes state accountability, and helps Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients move toward greater independence through work, education, and training opportunities.” (U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry: Chairman Boozman Releases Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry Budget Reconciliation Text – 6/11/25)
  • “SNAP spending has nearly doubled since it was reauthorized in the 2018 Farm Bill, reaching $100 billion annually. Due to administrative overreach, this has far outpaced the rate of inflation.” (U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry: Chairman Boozman Releases Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry Budget Reconciliation Text – 6/11/25)
  • Senate Republicans’ reconciliation bill maintains SNAP “benefits for those who need it the most: the elderly, disabled individuals, and children.” (U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry: Chairman Boozman Releases Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry Budget Reconciliation Text – 6/11/25)

MYTH: THIS LEGISLATION WILL CUT TAXES FOR BILLIONAIRES AND LEAVE MIDDLE-CLASS FAMILIES BEHIND

“If the the [sic] Senate passes the Republican budget bill, 40% of American families - those with lower and middle incomes - will LOSE money. They will become poorer. But the richest families will get an average $270,000 tax cut. Because they only care about the rich.” – Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.)

THE FACTS: REPUBLICANS’ BILL DELIVERS ON A PROMISE DEMOCRATS MADE BUT DON’T SEEM TO WANT TO KEEP – NOT TO RAISE TAXES ON THOSE MAKING $400,000 OR LESS – AND WILL PRIMARILY BENEFIT WORKING FAMILIES

  • Democrats have promised for years that they would not raise taxes on households earning less than $400,000, but now seem perfectly comfortable allowing it to happen:
  • Republicans’ reconciliation bill will permanently extend the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), preventing a “$2.6 trillion tax hike on households earning less than $400,00 per year,” including a $1,700 tax increase for the average family of four making the median income. (U.S. Senate Committee on Finance: Chairman Crapo Releases Finance Committee Reconciliation Text – 6/16/25)
  • Middle-class taxpayers received “the largest proportional benefit” of the TCJA, with the bottom half of Americans seeing their average federal tax rate fall by 15%, compared to only 5% for the top 1% of Americans. (U.S. Senate Committee on Finance: Crapo: Congress Must Extend 2017 Tax Law – 9/13/24; CNBC: ‘Reverse Robin Hood scam’ or windfall for middle class? Lawmakers debate Trump tax plan extensions – 3/3/25)
  • The increased child tax credit will be made permanent, benefiting 46 million American families and preventing it from being cut in half. (U.S. Senate Committee on Finance: Chairman Crapo Releases Finance Committee Reconciliation Text – 6/16/25; Bloomberg Government: Will Trump and Congress Extend TCJA Tax Cuts? – 2/20/25; Bipartisan Policy Center: Breaking Down the Child Tax Credit: Refundability and Earnings Requirements – 12/18/23)
  • The Senate bill will also incorporate pro-worker and pro-family provisions, like no taxes on qualified tips and overtime and incentives to buy and build American-made products. (U.S. Senate Committee on Finance: Chairman Crapo Releases Finance Committee Reconciliation Text – 6/16/25)
  • Long-run take-home pay will also rise: a typical family will see an increase of between, $7,800 to $13,327, and will benefit families in all 50 states. (White House Council of Economic Advisers: Preserving and Expanding Low Tax Rates to Create American Economic Prosperity – May 2025; White House: The One Big Beautiful Bill Is Good for All 50 States – 6/18/25)

MYTH: THIS LEGISLATION IS A GIVEAWAY TO BIG CORPORATIONS

“It's official: every Democratic Senator is united against tax handouts for billionaires and billionaire corporations. We believe nobody in this country should suffer so that Jeff Bezos can buy another yacht.” –Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)

“Senate Republicans' tax scam bill leaves millions of middle-class Americans worse off while giving out trillions of our tax dollars to the ultra-wealthy and big corporations.” – Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.)

THE FACTS: IF DEMOCRATS HAVE THEIR WAY, SMALL BUSINESSES AND MAIN STREET WOULD FACE A MASSIVE TAX INCREASE, AND EITHER WAY, CORPORATE RATES WILL REMAIN UNCHANGED

  • Senate Republicans’ bill makes the 20% small business deduction for pass-throughs permanent and permanently extends research and development expensing, bonus depreciation, and interest deductibility. (U.S. Senate Committee on Finance: Chairman Crapo Releases Finance Committee Reconciliation Text – 6/16/25)
  • This legislation will not change the corporate tax rate; rather, in 2017, “[o]ne of the central purposes of the TCJA was to enhance US competitiveness and increase economic growth by lowering the corporate tax rate, which was the highest in the developed world…” (Tax Foundation: Three Corporate Tax Hikes That Would Undermine TCJA’s Improvements to Competitiveness – 5/19/25)
  • “Currently, manufacturers in the United States perform 53.9% of all private-sector research and development in the nation, driving more innovation than any other sector.” (Real Clear Energy: The U.S. Senate Can Give American Manufacturers the Certainty They Deserve – 6/5/25)
  • Making the TCJA permanent, including these pro-manufacturing policies, would save over 1 million manufacturing jobs. (National Association of Manufacturers: Tax Increases Threaten American Jobs and Wages – accessed 6/23/25)