The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, H.R. 1, contains many critical provisions. It locks in most of the expiring tax policies from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, including policies that will help working families and small businesses. It restores pro-growth cost recovery provisions that will incentivize more investment for job creators. It makes meaningful, cost-saving reforms to Medicaid, SNAP, and other programs plagued by waste, fraud, and abuse.
At the same time, the bill is disappointing from a fiscal perspective. The growing federal debt is the largest public policy challenge facing Congress and this legislation fails to sufficiently rise to the occasion. Congress should do more. For instance, my colleagues at National Taxpayers Union Foundation identified an additional $1 trillion in offsets and savings.
The stakes are extremely high at present. Tariffs and other international concerns have introduced significant uncertainties into the economic picture. The $4 trillion tax hike that is scheduled to occur in just six months if this bill does not pass would be devastating. At the same time, federal borrowing due to rampant overspending threatens an economic crisis of its own.
Therefore, we urge members of Congress to support the OBBBA. Once this legislation is enacted into law, it is imperative that Congress immediately pivots to a comprehensive deficit-reduction plan.
This deficit reduction plan should include, at a minimum:
- Creation of a fiscal commission to study debt-drivers and recommend reforms that would be immediately voted on by both chambers,
- Regular order for appropriations with a 302(a) allocation significantly lower than the $1.6 trillion from fiscal year 2025,
- Senate passage of H.R. 4, the recissions package, to claw back $9.4 billion in spending
- Congressional passage of additional recissions packages to further reduce discretionary spending from the current fiscal year, and
- Additional spending reductions and budget process reforms.
We stand ready to assist Congress in the difficult, but essential, task of improving the health of our federal budget and our economy with pro-growth, fiscally responsible reforms. Without concerted, persistent, and energetic focus on this task, whatever gains taxpayers might have made under OBBBA will prove short-lived.