Handouts for Billionaires and Fossil Fuel Polluters, Cuts and Climate Chaos for Working-Class Americans in 2025 Reconciliation Bill
At the center of the Republican reconciliation bill that the U.S. Senate just sent back to the House is a renewal of President Donald Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that was originally set to expire at the end of this fiscal year. Republicans have been working graveyard shifts to force a vote before the July 4th holiday to lock in even bigger tax breaks for the wealthiest five percent of Americans for the next 10 years.
To pay for this, as well as increases in immigration enforcement operations, congressional Republicans are proposing an historic $1.7 trillion in cuts to healthcare, food assistance, and clean energy jobs. If the bill passes, at least 17 million Americans will lose their Medicaid coverage, and hundreds of assisted living facilities and rural hospitals could be forced to close.
Against the interest of large percentages of their constituents who depend on these services and oppose these cuts, Republicans are proposing to cut at least $800 billion from Medicaid, $300 billion from SNAP food assistance, and hundreds of billions more from clean energy investments and tax credits, which will raise electricity bills in every state.
These massive cuts to popular federal programs also mean more of the costs will be shifted to states. This could further upend state budgets that include billions in annual federal contributions for healthcare, education, and food assistance they receive in normal budget years and force states to scramble to shift funds to cover a higher state contribution for these programs. In states that are facing budget shortfalls and are unable to backfill funding, local governments will have to reduce or eliminate services altogether.
By many accounts, including an assessment from the Congressional Budget Office and a statement from North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, the groups who will specifically pay more to cover these handouts are the most vulnerable Americans, including those on fixed incomes, seniors, children, people on disability, and the unemployed. This disastrous bill would also leave all Americans and their children on the hook for $5 trillion in new national debt, plus interest. If the bill passes, we will also begin paying a higher percentage of our income on out-of-pocket costs for basic necessities including food, healthcare, credit card interest rates, and utilities.
Republicans also want Americans to forgo investments in clean energy during a critical window that scientists warn represents our last chance to reduce emissions that are needed to stabilize global temperatures. The bill specifically targets supply chains for zero emission technologies and for renewable wind and solar energy by adding eligibility requirements and accelerating project deadlines that will be impossible to meet. The Republican proposal also eliminates tax credits for individual consumers at the end of the 2025 fiscal year and eliminates any grant funding for IRA programs that remains unobligated.
To further appease wealthy fossil fuel donors, Republicans are also creating favorable leasing and permitting conditions for oil, gas, and coal. This is what really motivates the “Energy Dominance” agenda: slowing the deployment of cleaner alternatives that pose a threat to oil and gas now that those alternatives are cheaper than fossil fuels, even if the benefit to fossil fuel industry is marginal: in reality, the industry would not like the oil market flooded with more supply and prices of oil and gas drop.
The Republican proposal is also tragically short-sighted. Billions, if not trillions, of dollars of public and private capital have already been invested in clean energy operations and jobs, especially in conservative states. Eliminating these projects would render those initial down payments and investments ineffective.
Math is not the only thing not adding up in the Republican proposal. The plan is also riddled with contradictions that show how this morally bankrupt bill sells out our clean energy future. Alongside provisions that decimate investments in renewable energy infrastructure, manufacturing, and technologies are others that preserve and increase “45Q” tax credits for carbon capture and storage — a false climate “solution” that has always been a cover for handouts to the fossil fuel industry. Another example was a provision that attempted to prohibit states from regulating AI data centers for 10 years, which was removed from the version of the bill passed by the senate by a 51-50 vote, with Vice President JD Vance casting the tie-breaking vote.
Despite minor changes made to the Senate version in the “Byrd Bath” and vote-a-rama process, in which most notably a provision that would have mandated the sale of public lands was withdrawn, the approved bill still guts investments in the deployment of clean energy and is still the worst bill for the environment and the climate in history. It leaves states and communities — including developers interested in building AI data centers — dependent on dirtier and more expensive new fossil fuel infrastructure to meet growing energy demands.
The stakes have never been higher as the reconciliation bill makes its way back to the House for negotiation and final approval. Republican members of the House are under pressure from the White House to pass the bill unanimously.
There is still time to contact your House representatives. Make sure they hear from you today.
U.S. Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121