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In a razor-thin vote held after an overnight session, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 1, dubbed the “One Big Ugly Bill,” by a margin of 215-214, with one member voting present.
By News Desk
The legislation, advanced by House Republicans, has sparked intense criticism from Democrats, who accuse the majority party of concealing its contents through late-night proceedings and limited public visibility.
Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA), a senior member of both the House Ways and Means Committee and the Budget Committee, voted against the measure and issued a blistering statement condemning the bill.
“This is a shameful and cruel bill that House Republicans have spent the last week desperately trying to hide from the American people through midnight markups and votes,” said Rep. Chu.
According to Chu, the legislation would result in sweeping cuts to key social safety net programs and critical benefits for millions of Americans. She outlined projected consequences that include removing 14 million people from Medicaid and Affordable Care Act (ACA) health coverage, restricting abortion access through ACA plans, threatening food assistance for nearly 11 million SNAP recipients, reducing or eliminating Pell Grants for over 4 million students, and ending Child Tax Credit eligibility for children with non-citizen parents.
Chu also pointed to the financial implications of the bill, citing estimates from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) that it could add $5 trillion to the federal debt over the next decade. That debt increase, she said, could trigger $500 billion in automatic cuts to Medicare.
Further criticism was leveled at provisions that would eliminate energy tax credits established under the Inflation Reduction Act, which Chu warned would lead to higher energy costs for families and a blow to domestic manufacturing.
“This bill wreaks all of this havoc for one reason: to give massive, permanent tax cuts to the ultra-wealthy,” said Chu. “This is a reverse Robin Hood scheme that the CBO found is so unfair that it would actually make the poorest 10% of Americans even poorer while making the richest 10% even richer.”
The passage of H.R. 1 sets the stage for a contentious battle in the Senate, where Democrats are expected to mount strong opposition.
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