How Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' could affect Michigan

• The House passed a bill extending tax cuts, altering environmental subsidies, and changing Medicaid requirements.
• It eliminates EV incentives and adds tax deductions for overtime pay, tips, and new car loan interest.
• The bill faces Senate review and potential changes before reaching President Trump.

In an early morning vote, the U.S. House of Representatives passed sweeping legislation that extends and increases tax cuts, gets rid of many environmental subsidies and puts additional limits on Medicaid coverage for low-income adults.

The legislation isn't final: It still must be considered in the Senate, where there will likely be changes, and then any changes will have to be reconsidered in the House before being sent to President Donald Trump to be signed into law.

But if the result looks like that passed by a 215-214 margin in the House just before 7 a.m. on May 22, it will have significant effects in Michigan, including measures that:

• Require able adults to prove they spent at least 80 hours a month working or attending education or training classes to maintain Medicaid coverage. More than 2.6 million Michigan residents are currently insured by the program.
• Extend existing work requirements for able adults between the ages of 55-64 who aren't caregivers for children under the age of 7 for food assistance under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP (previously known as food stamps), while restricting waivers from the work requirements nationwide and also requiring states to pay an increasing share if they are found to be making improper payments. Michigan has some 1.5 million people on its SNAP program.
• Eliminate measures put in place by Congress under former President Joe Biden that are intended to encourage the production and sale of electric vehicles (EVs) by American automakers based in Michigan, including those subsidies to spur consumers to install EV chargers and save up to $7,500 on the cost of a new EV.
• Add to tax cuts passed by Congress and signed by Trump in 2017 on individuals and businesses, which would be extended past their expiration at the end of the year, by adding new deductions on overtime pay (for individuals making less than $160,000 this year), on tips (for people in certain industries, like restaurants) and, of particular interest in Michigan, on interest of up to $10,000 a year on new car loans (for American-made personal vehicles). Those reductions would only be available over the next three years under the legislation as currently written, however.

The legislation also increases the amount of state and local taxes families can deduct from their income when reporting their taxes each year, increases the child care deduction by $500 to $2,500 for three years and adds a $4,000 deduction to the standard deduction for senior citizens for three years.

That's a small sample of what's included in what Trump has called his "big, beautiful bill" and which Republicans, who hold slim majorities in the House and Senate, hope to pass through a process known as reconciliation, which would allow them to approve budgetary measures without needing a 60-vote margin to overcome a filibuster threat in the Senate.

Trump and the Republicans had argued that unless the 2017 tax cuts — which generally lowered taxes for earners in all income brackets but provided more of a break for higher earners — were extended past their expiration this year, a family of four could see a tax hit of some $1,700 a year.

Democrats, meanwhile, have long argued that wealthier earners should pay more and decried the hit the new legislation promises to lower-income Americans, with the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimating it will have a much harsher impact on them while putting more money in the pockets of wealthier Americans. Work requirements, such as those contemplated for Medicaid and potentially extended for SNAP, have also been hit by liberal critics who argue they are intended to reduce access to government aid programs by making onerous and often complex requirements to maintain benefits.

“These cuts will hurt the most vulnerable Michiganders, from three in five nursing home residents, people living with disabilities, and pregnant women. They will increase hunger and harm local retailers, forcing more Michiganders to go to bed with a pit in their stomach. We cannot accept this level of cruelty towards people who need help," said Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, who called out several Republicans who voted in favor of it "to reckon with the devastating impact this bill will have."

“We cannot backfill this massive hole in our budget with state funding alone. We need our representatives in Washington to fight for us," she said.

A nonpartisan Washington-based watchdog group, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, has also found that the cost of the tax cuts, in terms of how much federal revenue would be lost, compared with the far smaller amount in spending reductions, could add $2.3 trillion to the federal deficit and more than $3 trillion to the nation's debt over the coming decade.

CBO also noted that under existing laws, deficits at that level could trigger required reductions in Medicare, which provides health care to senior citizens, of as much as $490 billion between 2027 and 2034, absent other actions to protect it.

As approved by the House, it would increase the nation's allowable indebtedness by $4 trillion despite Republicans demands in the past that the limit be severely curtailed or spending be greatly restricted. The bill also includes $150 billion in increased military funding, including additional authorization for shipbuilding and a missile defense system, and billions to increase border protection.

Trump, who made many of the proposals part of his campaign in last year's election, had demanded passage of the bill, with the White House putting out a statement that it viewed any effort by Republicans to block the legislation — with some conservatives initially raising concerns about the costs — as the "ultimate betrayal."

He responded to the House passage by calling it "arguably the most significant piece of legislation that will ever be signed in the history of our country."

Ultimately, only two Republicans voted against the bill, U.S. Reps. Thomas Massie, of Kentucky, and Warren Davidson, of Ohio. As with the rest of the House, the Michigan delegation voted along party lines to advance the legislation ahead of the Memorial Day recess, with the state's seven Republicans voting for it and six Democrats voting against.

That includes several members vying for higher office: U.S. Rep. John James, R-Shelby Township, who is running for governor, voted for the legislation. U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Birmingham, who is running for an open U.S. Senate seat, voted against it.

"I’m PROUD to have voted YES for the Michiganders who gave us the mandate to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!" James said in a post on X.

Stevens said it was "handout to the wealthy," adding, "The only ones who benefit from this are billionaires like (Trump adviser and Tesla head) Elon Musk, and it’s all coming at the expense of working Michigan families. Michiganders are going to see even higher prices, less health coverage, and more chaos and uncertainty."

Republican members praised the legislation, with U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett, R-Charlotte, who represents a swing district in mid-Michigan, saying his constituents "sent me to Congress to do the hard work necessary to lower the cost of living, secure our border, and unleash American energy. The legislation we passed today makes good on those promises and more." He added that on the subject of Medicaid reforms, Democrats are trying to "scare people into believing the sky is falling."

U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Tipton, said, "Today, House Republicans passed historic legislation which delivers on President Trump's mandate to restore fiscal responsibility to Washington. ... The Senate must pass this bill to codify President Trump and the American people's full agenda."

James, Barrett and U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Holland Township, who is also looking at a run for the open Senate seat, were all mentioned for the votes by Whitmer.

Democrats excoriated the legislation.

“Republicans need to stop lying," said U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit. "They just voted for the largest cuts to Medicaid and food assistance in the history of our country. ... This budget makes $880 billion in cuts that will decimate Medicaid, nearly $300 billion in cuts to food assistance, but increases the Pentagon war machine by $150 billion."

U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Ann Arbor, called it "one of the most consequential bills the Congress has passed in this century."

"It is going to rip health care away from almost 14 million people, make the biggest cuts to food assistance in history, and raise prices across the board," she said. "People will die, children will go hungry, and working Americans will continue to struggle to make ends meet, all so Republicans can give another tax break to billionaires. It’s wrong and they know it — which is why they planned to pass it in the middle of the night. The fight isn’t over, and we will continue to use every tool at our disposal to defeat this cruel, dangerous bill.”

Abhi Rahman, deputy communications director for the Democratic National Committee, put out a statement saying House Republicans "are making it crystal clear they have no regard for the well-being of Michiganders, and their catastrophic budget bill is proof."

This story was updated to add new information.

Contact Todd Spangler: [email protected]. Follow him on X @tsspangler.