President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act turned 1 year old Saturday, and Republicans are heavily promoting the tax benefits it has delivered to voters in this tough midterm election year.
Mr. Trump points to “no tax on tips” and “no tax on overtime” as major boons for his working-class base. Meanwhile, Senate Republicans have held more than 100 events from Alaska to Florida since the start of the year to celebrate the legislation.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Louisiana Republican, has called the legislation “one of the most historic bills we’ve seen in our lifetime.”
In a statement marking the anniversary, House Speaker Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republican, said: “American paychecks are bigger, their taxes are permanently lower, and the border is secure. If congressional Democrats — who unanimously voted against this historic legislation and fought to obstruct its implementation — had their way, American citizens would have faced a $5 trillion tax increase, the largest in American history.”
Mr. Johnson said the One Big Beautiful Bill Act demonstrates that the Republican Party is “the only one that fights for hardworking families, and we plan to remind voters of that simple fact every day until the midterms in November.”
Democrats, meanwhile, say the landmark legislation robs the poor to help the rich.
“With their signature achievement, Republicans have made life harder for the working class, while the rich get even richer. And they’re even proud of this,” said House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar of California.
Mr. Aguilar continued: “Now, for America 250, Republicans are celebrating the anniversary by attempting to rebrand this toxic law as the ’Working Families Tax Cuts.’ Republicans are insulting the intelligence of the American people with this blatant lie. Americans are smart, and they know that their lives have gotten harder and more expensive under Republican leadership.”
Mr. Trump signed the landmark bill on July 4, 2025, after an intense legislative battle on Capitol Hill.
The massive law extended tax cuts from a 2017 Republican overhaul and permanently increased the standard deduction for filers.
It included tax breaks on tipped income and overtime pay and, after intense lobbying from Republicans in blue-leaning states, expanded the deduction for state and local taxes on federal returns.
Tax-advantaged savings vehicles for American children, known as “Trump Accounts,” launched Saturday.
The White House said the legislation has been a “game-changer” for tens of millions of Americans.
“These are immense victories fortifying the economic strength of Americans and America in both the short and long term, and the administration will continue to rightfully tout this achievement in the months and years ahead,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said.
The all-out sales pitch is an attempt to change public perceptions of the law, which has been skewed negatively since the start.
Democrats, hoping for major midterm victories in November, have pilloried the bill as a deficit-bloating measure that favors wealthier tax filers and ushers in devastating cuts to Medicaid, the federal-state insurance program for the poor.
Public negativity has lingered. In March, 59% of Americans told Gallup that their tax burdens remained too high, and 37% said their tax burdens seemed about right.
A Fox News poll from April, near the IRS filing deadline, found that 70% of Americans think their taxes are too high.
Darrell West, a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution, said the One Big Beautiful Bill Act has not appeared to yield tangible political gains for Republicans.
“It was contentious legislation, and the GOP didn’t do a very good job messaging its benefits,” he said. “Right now, the conversation is dominated by Iran and affordability concerns. There is little discussion about tax cuts or how Republicans have reduced the cost of living. That creates a treacherous environment for the GOP in November.”
Republicans are rebranding their landmark bill in their bid for a political breakthrough, dubbing it the Working Families Tax Cuts.
The Small Business Administration uses both names on one of its webpages.
The law has shown signs of progress.
A Bipartisan Policy Center survey found that people with tip income tended to file their tax returns earlier than those without, signaling an eagerness to tap into new benefits, and 56% of filers had at least some awareness of the tax relief.
According to a Senate Republican fact sheet, tens of millions of people received relief on their tax returns this year:
• More than 29 million deducted overtime pay.
• More than 7.5 million people claimed no-tax-on-tips relief.
• 127 million filers claimed the permanently doubled standard deduction.
• More than 35 million older Americans took advantage of an “enhanced senior deduction.”
• Nearly 40 million families claimed an enhanced child tax credit.
Republicans say Democrats are trash-talking their bill because they do not understand its upsides or do not want to give the Republicans credit.
“They sneer at what real relief means to real people,” Rep. Beth Van Duyne, Texas Republican, said at a recent Republican press conference.
Senate Republicans, clinging to a 53-47 majority, are promoting the One Big Beautiful Bill Act far and wide, including restaurant stops to highlight tax breaks on tips and hospital visits to highlight a Rural Health Transformation Program.
“From Day 1, Senate Republicans have committed our majority to providing Americans with safer streets, more money in their pockets and new opportunities to get ahead,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, South Dakota Republican. “There’s no better example of that success than the historic Working Families Tax Cuts bill, which included more than 100 individual bills aimed at making Americans’ lives safer and more secure.”
Democrats are counterprogramming with a drumbeat of criticism over the law’s treatment of health and welfare programs. They hope that dissatisfaction with Mr. Trump and congressional Republicans will give them a net gain of at least three seats and control of the House.
A generic congressional ballot from RealClearPolitics showed Democrats leading Republicans by 5 percentage points.
Democrats are zeroing in on a massive decrease in future spending for Medicaid insurance because of new work requirements and other changes to Medicaid’s financing structure under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
There is some debate over whether curtailed spending counts as a “cut,” since spending on the program will continue to rise overall.
“There are no cuts in Medicaid,” Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told lawmakers. “I keep saying this. Here’s what the CBO said: In fiscal year 2025, $668 billion. Fiscal year 2036, $981 billion. That’s not a cut. It’s a 47% increase.”
Democrats say the spending will not keep up with the growing population and amounts to a drastic blow to the program.
Furthermore, nearly 3 million fewer people are obtaining health coverage through Obamacare after the One Big Beautiful Bill Act terminated expanded subsidies ushered in by President Biden.
Enrollment fell from a high of 22.1 million in 2025 to 19.2 million people in February, according to KFF.
“Trump promised beautiful. A year later, fewer people are insured, premiums are skyrocketing, and deductibles are higher than ever before,” Rep. Frank Pallone, New Jersey Democrat, said Thursday. “It’s ugly, and Republicans know it.”
Republicans say the public will gradually see the upside of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act through provisions such as the Trump Accounts, which started accepting deposits Saturday. People can contribute up to $5,000 per year per child.
Children born from Jan. 1, 2025, to Dec. 31, 2028, are eligible for $1,000 in seed money from the U.S. government.
On Wednesday, Mr. Trump touted a $250 million investment in the accounts by the tech company Micron.
“This is exactly what the fabulously successful TRUMP ACCOUNTS were created to do — Give every American Child a headstart, and a real chance to succeed,” Mr. Trump said on social media. “My Policies are WORKING, and working ’BIG.’”
