President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” which passed the House in May and is now under consideration in the Senate, does much more than just make the 2017 tax cuts permanent.
The more than 1,000-page bill is loaded with provisions that Mr. Trump and Republicans say will make the nation safer and more fiscally sound. It will undergo modifications in the GOP-led Senate, but the provisions highlighted below are likely to end up in the final bill.
1. Build the wall.
President Trump’s long-promised wall along the U.S.-Mexico border would receive a funding boost of $46.5 billion. It’s enough to finish the project, which Mr. Trump began during his first term and President Biden halted in 2021. As of January, there were 777 miles of barriers built along the 1,954-mile border.
2. End student loan bailouts.
The bill would cap annual federal student loan aid that parents and students can access, eliminate Federal Direct Subsidized Loans and require students to make higher loan payments than currently required.
For the first time, colleges and universities would have to repay the federal government for some unpaid federal student loans. The “risk-sharing requirement” would set payments based on the cost of a school’s tuition and the percentage of students who do not graduate within a specific time frame. It would also take into account the earnings of recent graduates. The bill would create a new grant program to reward low-cost colleges and universities where federal Pell Grant recipients graduate on time. The student loan changes would save $330 billion over a decade.
3. Modernize Air Traffic Control.
It would provide a $12.5 billion “down payment” to reform the antiquated ATC, where nearly obsolete equipment is threatening public safety and is requiring $100 million in monthly maintenance costs. Lawmakers said the money will pay for replacing aging air traffic control towers and terminal radar approach control facilities, radar systems, telecommunications infrastructure and runway safety projects. It will also pay for recruiting, retaining and training air traffic controllers.
4. End IRS reporting for gig workers who use payment apps.
The legislation would repeal a requirement that individuals report transactions greater than $600 to the IRS that they received using Venmo, PayPal and other payment apps. The reporting requirement was signed into law by President Biden. Republicans opposed it, citing the Joint Committee on Taxation’s finding that more than 90% of the gig tax would be paid by those earning less than $200,000.
Repealing the filing requirement will cost the federal government $9.7 billion over ten years, according to budget scorekeepers.
5. Eliminate Direct File.
Another provision would end the Direct File, a Biden-era program that allows taxpayers to directly file with the IRS for free or a low fee. The program is now available in 25 states. The legislation would create a $15 million Treasury Department program to create a new public-private system to replace Direct File.
Mr. Trump and Republicans considered the program wasteful. The Treasury Inspector General concluded it cost more than $30 million to develop the program, but only 141,000 taxpayers used the program out of 19 million who were eligible.
6. Roll back Biden-era nursing home staffing rule.
A federal judge has delayed the Biden administration’s regulation that sets a minimum staffing level for nursing homes. The rule, finalized in April of 2024, would require nursing homes that participate in Medicare and Medicaid to provide residents a minimum of 3.48 hours of nursing care per day. The American Health Care Association and other opponents said it would serve as an unfunded mandate and would devastate access to care for seniors and veterans. Advocates said the rule would save the lives of thousands of nursing home residents annually.
7. Eliminate a 30% federal tax credit for solar rooftop systems.
The bill would nix the federal residential solar energy credit, which was raised from 26% to 30% during the Biden administration. The tax credit, which applied to the cost of installation of solar roof panels, was meant to gradually decrease to 22% in 2034 and then expire in 2035. Under the GOP bill, it would end on Dec. 31, 2025. Tax credits for companies that install solar panels would be phased out over the next seven years and would be fully eliminated in 2032. Industry experts say the provision will raise the cost of solar significantly and create uncertainty in the solar panel business. Mr. Trump says renewable energy sources such as wind and solar are expensive and unreliable.
