U.S. President Donald Trump enacted this Friday his long-awaited ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act‘ (‘Great and beautiful bill’, in English), and he did so coinciding with Independence Day, as he had planned.
“
The people of the U.S. will be richer, safer, and prouder than ever”,
affirmed Trump this Thursday to local media, to whom he advanced that some “beautiful planes” B-2, F-22 and F-35 would fly over the White House while he signed the law. “This is the most popular project ever signed in the history of our country”, proclaimed the president from a balcony of the presidential residence before proceeding to sign the decree.
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The legislation includes budget items for its
controversial immigration policy, tax exemptions that, according to its critics,
benefit millionaires and cuts to medical coverage.
It’s more than 800 pages that
cover “practically everything”, in the words of the Republican. Now the income tax cuts approved during his first term (2017-2021) become permanent.
Among the novelties are
tax deductions for tips and the payment of overtime, one of Trump’s great campaign
promises designed for thousands of workers, although it will only apply until 2028,
media reports.
Likewise, another of Trump’s electoral assets will be reinforced with huge amounts: the construction of the
border wall that divides the U.S. from Mexico and the strengthening of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE), among other actions related to migration.
It will also
increase the debt ceiling by five trillion dollars, an amount that exceeds the four trillion dollars foreseen in the initial bill previously adopted by the House of Representatives. Meanwhile, the deficit in the federal coffers will rise to 3.3 or 3.4 trillion dollars over the next decade.
Despite Democratic efforts in the lower house, where they repeatedly requested unanimous consent to achieve an amendment, there will be cuts to the public medical insurance program, known as Medicaid, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). According to estimates from the Congressional Budget Office, the initiative will cause
11.8 million Americans to lose Medicaid health coverage over the next decade.
“It’s not only imprudent, but also cruel”, criticized the bill the former Democratic president, Joe Biden, who in November 2024, when Trump had already won the votes, tried to ensure that his economic initiatives would endure, particularly investments in manufacturing and clean energy through the Inflation Reduction Act.
However, the Inflation Reduction Act will be blown to smithereens with the elimination of tax credits for clean energy that the ‘Great and beautiful project’ entails.
A new opposition party?
Although Biden and many exponents of the Democratic Party monopolize the displays of repulsion for the approval of Trump’s fiscal plan, there are also staunch critics outside the bipartisan sphere, including the former star advisor to the Republican leader, Elon Musk.
“Independence Day is the perfect time to ask them if they want to become independent from the bipartisan (some would say unipartisan) system.
Should we create the America Party?“,
asked this Friday the richest man in the world on his social network, X.
Of the more than 570,000 people who voted, 62.7% opted for yes. Afterwards, Musk
dared to speculate with the idea that the “America Party” focuses on some Senate seats and districts of the House of Representatives to “serve as a decisive vote on controversial laws” and, in that way, can
establish themselves as “the true will of the people”.
The first time the magnate
spoke of the creation of a new political group, also with a survey, was at the beginning of June, when he
starred with Trump in a public quarrel amid an exchange of accusations, which began with Musk’s
questioning against the now tax law.
The White House Deputy Chief of Staff, Stephen Miller, has
labeled the idea of creating a new party as a “libertarian delusion”, but Musk seems determined. Today he reposted a message in which
he satirizes the times they have doubted his inventive capacity. “Elon, don’t create a rocket company. It will never work”; “Elon, don’t create an electric car company. It will never work”;
“Elon, don’t create a political party. It will never work”, reads the text.
Likewise, Musk also
shared a text by Rand Paul, one of the Republican senators who have distanced themselves from Trump’s proposal.
“The Not So Beautiful Great Bill has been officially approved by both chambers. Despite some conservative provisions, it shoots up the short-term deficit.
This is Washington’s ‘modus operandi’: short-term politicking instead of long-term sustainability,” wrote Paul.
