Opinion - The Senate's one big, beautiful opportunity to deliver tax relief and pass Trump's agenda

Yahoo

a day ago

President Trump ran — and won — on a bold promise: supercharge America's economy and restore strength at home and abroad. Now the Senate is on the verge of helping him fulfill that commitment with the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Getting the bill through the House was a Herculean effort in itself, given the Republicans' thin majority. That required many compromises to be made. While there is a lot of good in the House version of the bill, some big improvements still need to be made. That is what the Senate is currently working on.
First, the good. The bill extends and expands the Trump tax cuts, the largest in American history. It also increases the child tax credit, extends and expands the pass-through deduction that is vital for small businesses, and expands credits for employer-provided childcare.
Failure to get this done is not an option. Any member of Congress — Democrat or Republican — who votes against the bill will vote for the largest tax hike in American history.
Don't buy the spin of Democrats who oppose this bill and falsely give the impression that it's just tax cuts for billionaires. Instead, look at the numbers.
By voting against this bill, Democrats are voting to double the federal taxes on every married couple with two kids making $80,000 a year, from roughly $1,400 in taxes owed to more than $3,000.
By voting against this bill, Democrats are voting to force single parents with two kids making $40,000 a year to go from getting a net tax credit to owing nearly $1,500 in taxes.
By voting against this bill, Democrats are also betraying tens of millions of small businesses. They'll be voting to triple the income tax bill for married small business owners with three kids and a net income of $180,000.
They will also be voting against the most ambitious welfare reform in a generation.
Medicaid is a lifeline for seniors on fixed incomes, low-income families, pregnant women and individuals with disabilities. It is also on an unsustainable path, with expenditures increasing by roughly 50 percent since 2019. Trump was right to push to protect Medicaid beneficiaries while calling for a crackdown on waste, fraud and abuse.
The bill accomplishes this by finally enacting work requirements for able-bodied adults. Democrats, who once championed welfare reform under President Clinton, now ridiculously claim that work requirements are 'cuts.'
How dare we expect an able-bodied adult capable of holding a job actively seek employment, volunteer in their community, or pursue education in exchange for taxpayer-funded benefits?
The bill also includes other wins that fulfill Trump's promises.
Included is historic funding for border security, so we can maintain the incredible success of the Trump administration's enforcement efforts, and build the infrastructure we need to keep illegals and the cartels out of our country in the years ahead.
The bill also gives well-deserved pay raises to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol employees, makes energy exploration investments and takes measures to combat fentanyl trafficking.
Despite a lot of good, there are some big areas in need of improvement.
First, the Senate needs to find additional spending cuts and savings. While the House version saves taxpayers $1.6 trillion in spending, we need to push further for fiscal restraint.
This will be easier said than done, as the reconciliation process that allows Congress to pass major tax legislation with a simple majority vote has major restrictions on what and where the Senate can cut.
A prime target is the House's inexplicable decision to quadruple the state and local tax (SALT) deduction, which wealthy taxpayers in high-tax blue states utilize. While I understand why lawmakers from California and New York want to increase the SALT deduction, it's not the responsibility of federal taxpayers to subsidize state tax bills.
The SALT increase overwhelmingly benefits the wealthiest of taxpayers and carries a significant price tag of $320 billion. The Senate needs to fix this and unlock additional cost savings to help working families, not coastal elites.
The Senate also needs to be laser-focused on fulfilling Trump's goal of supercharging the economy. That means anything that 'costs' money should ideally produce growth. We must also scrutinize any provision that could ultimately cost jobs and capital, wiping out any intended savings in the bill. One such example is the hidden tobacco tax hike, which could put many of the North Carolina tobacco farmers I represent out of business.
Moving forward, each Republican senator will have input, and each provision should be scrutinized. My simple request to all my Republican colleagues in both chambers is: do not let the perfect become the enemy of the good.
We have narrow majorities in both the House and Senate and cannot waste the historic opportunity we have to deliver tax relief and pass Trump's agenda. Whether it takes the next few weeks or the next few months, let's do the hard work to find common ground, get the job done, and put the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on Trump's desk.
Thom Tillis is the senior senator from North Carolina.
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