Weekly Newsletter, 5.27.25

Last week, House Republicans rammed their so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill” through the House of Representatives — a title so misleading it would be laughable if the consequences weren’t so devastating.

The truth? It’s “One Big Ugly Bill” — or even a “Big Bad Billionaire Bonus,” considering this bill is nothing more than a handout to the wealthiest few at the expense of stripping health care, food and opportunity away from millions of Americans. 

And Republicans did it all in the dead of night.

From the Wednesday Rules Committee markup at 1:00 AM through the Thursday floor vote just after dawn, House Democrats stood united against the largest cuts to Medicaid and food assistance in American history. For over 21 hours, over 100 House Democrats offered over 500 amendments to mitigate the damage this bill would do to the vast majority of the American people. Republicans rejected every single one before introducing their own new version that made the bill even worse for a floor debate and vote in the dead of night.

Read more to find out what’s in this bill and how it may affect you and your community.

What’s in the Bill?

H.R. 1 is a nearly 1,000-page wish list of extremist right-wing priorities — jammed through with detrimental last-minute changes that allow for zero transparency or accountability. They rammed it through before the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) could do an analysis of the last-minute changes, but the CBO did confirm that the bill would take from the poorest Americans to hand even more tax breaks to the wealthiest. Here is some of what the bill does:

Cuts to Health Care for Millions

• Nearly 14 million Americans will lose their health insurance — including children, seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities.
• Makes the single largest cut to health care in history, slashing around $700 billion from Medicaid and as much as $300 billion from the ACA exchanges for a total of nearly $1 trillion in health care cuts.
• Imposes punitive paperwork requirements on Medicaid to prove employment, despite the fact that most recipients already work.
• Triggers over $500 billion in automatic cuts to Medicare under the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go (‘PAYGO’) Act.
• Defunds Planned Parenthood and blocks ACA plans from covering abortion care — even at the patient’s expense.
• Guts protections for nursing home residents.

The Largest Cut to Food Assistance in U.S. History

• $36 billion in cuts to SNAP, taking food off the table for families, kids, and seniors.
• New work-reporting red tape will threaten food access for 11 million Americans, including more than 4 million children and 2 million seniors and adults with disabilities.
• Strips away school meals for over 18 million children.

Tax Breaks for Billionaires

• While working families lose health care and food assistance, the richest 0.1% get $255,000 a year in tax breaks.
• The top 1% receive 20% of the bill’s benefits — and the top 20% get more than two-thirds.
• Adds $5 trillion to the federal debt, after 25 years of GOP tax cuts already added $10 trillion.

Attacks on Education and Students

• Eliminates or reduces Pell Grants for over 4 million students — or two-thirds of current Pell recipients — pushing families deeper into debt.
• Increases monthly student loan payments by nearly $200.
• Undermines public schools by funding private school vouchers with taxpayer money.

Selling Out Clean Energy and the Environment

• Repeals key parts of the Inflation Reduction Act, jeopardizing thousands of clean energy jobs — many in Republican districts.
• Raises gas prices by up to 40 cents per gallon by 2035.
• Increases electric bills by at least $110/year for working families beginning in 2026.

Handcuffs States from Reigning in Big Tech

• Imposes a 10-year ban on states regulating AI — even in cases of discrimination, fraud, and deepfakes. I spoke against this provision in the Energy & Commerce Committee, which strips away states’ power to protect kids and families from the harms of AI and is so extreme that even 40 bipartisan state Attorneys General oppose it.
• Uses spectrum auction proceeds to pay for tax cuts for billionaires and enrich Republican donors like Elon Musk instead of using the funds to pay for programs that lower costs and make life better for Americans. I offered an amendment in Energy & Commerce and in the Rules Committee to ensure spectrum auctions do not line the pockets of President Trump, government officials or their families. Republicans rejected it. 

What The Bill Means for Virginia and You

Before this One Big Bill, we were already seeing the damaging economic impacts of this Administration in Virginia. Our state has the second highest number of federal workers and Musk’s reckless DOGE cuts have had a detrimental impact with our unemployment rate ticking up and GDP expected to slow.

Now Republicans are passing this bill with federal funding cuts across the board, saying that states can make up the difference. Virginia state legislators worry otherwise.

The party that claims to champion “giving power back to the states” hands states nothing but a massive hole in their budget through this bill, shifting costs to the states and handcuffing their ability to fill the gaps.

Before coming to Congress, I served in the state legislature for nearly 18 years. I can tell you firsthand that Virginia cannot afford these reckless cuts.

Virginia, like most states, must have a balanced budget, and cannot just print money. This bill will force state legislatures to either raise taxes or significantly cut critical programs for health care, education, environmental protection, transportation, infrastructure, public safety, and just about everything else.

Here is a district-by-district breakdown of the bill’s impact. 

This Fight Is Not Over

Every single House Democrat voted against this monstrosity of a bill because we know that the American people deserve better. They deserve a government that works for them, not billionaires.

This is not “One Big Beautiful Bill.” It’s one big, ugly betrayal of American values, and we will continue fighting it every step of the way.

It only takes four Republicans in the Senate to defeat this bill. Some are already raising the alarm about Medicaid cuts — while others decry adding trillions more to the deficit and want to cut even more. And the more they learn about this Big Ugly Bill, the more the American people hate it.

MY BRIGHT SPOT

This week, I’d like to dedicate my bright spot to my friend, colleague and mentor, Congressman Gerry Connolly, who passed away Tuesday evening. For over 40 years, Gerry embodied public service as a congressional staffer, member and Chair of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, and Congressman. He loved his neighbors and our fragile government by, of and for the people. He passionately provided a voice for the voiceless as he sought to ease any suffering he saw. No matter the challenges facing him or his constituents, he never lost his sense of humor or the twinkle of joy in his eyes.

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Thank you to Gerry for your model of servant leadership, and may your memory be a reminder to all of us to keep that bright light alive in difficult times.

Keep the faith, friends!