Donald Trump made a rare trip to Capitol Hill to try and convince Republican members of Congress to approve his “big, beautiful bill” that would cut programmes for the poor and lower taxes while raising the US’ national debt.
Published On 20 May 202520 May 2025
Nonpartisan analysts say bill would add $3-5tn to the nation’s $36.2tn debt over the next decade.
United States President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax-cut bill has won approval from a key congressional committee to advance towards possible passage in the House of Representatives later this week.
The rare Sunday night vote marks a big win for Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson, after hardline Republican conservatives on Friday blocked the bill from clearing the House Budget Committee over a dispute involving spending cuts to the Medicaid healthcare programme for lower-income Americans and the repeal of green energy tax credits.
Four hardline members of the committee’s 21 Republicans allowed the legislation to advance by voting “present”. The bill passed in a 17-16 vote, with all Democrats voting against it.
The hardliners had spent much of the day in closed-door negotiations with House Republican leaders and White House officials.
Johnson met with Republican lawmakers shortly before the meeting, telling reporters that the changes agreed to were “just some minor modifications. Not a huge thing.”
Republican House Budget Chairman Jodey Arrington said he expects deliberations to continue on into the week, “right up until the time we put this big, beautiful bill before the House”.
Nonpartisan analysts say the bill, which would extend the 2017 tax cuts that were Trump’s signature first-term legislative win, would add $3 trillion to $5 trillion to the $36.2 trillion national debt over the next decade.
Credit ratings agency Moody’s cited the rising debt, which it said was on track to reach 134 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2035, for its decision on Friday to downgrade the US’s credit rating.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview with CNN on Sunday that the bill would spur economic growth sufficient to offset any growth in the debt, adding that he did not put much credence in Moody’s downgrade.
Economic experts have warned that the downgrade – following previous downgrades by Fitch Ratings and S&P – is a clear sign that the US has too much debt and lawmakers need to either increase revenues or spend less.
Trump’s Republicans hold a 220-213 majority in the House, and are divided over how deeply to slash spending to offset the cost of the tax cuts.
Hardliners want cuts to Medicaid, which some Republican senators have pushed back against, saying it would hurt the very voters who elected Trump in November, and whose support they will need in 2026 when control of Congress is again up for grabs.
The bill’s cuts would kick 8.6 million people off Medicaid.
It also aims to eliminate taxes on tips and some overtime income – both Trump campaign promises – while boosting defence spending and providing more funds for Trump’s border crackdown.
Democratic US Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut said the credit rating cut spelled trouble for Americans.
“That is a big deal. That means that we are likely headed for a recession,” Murphy told NBC’s Meet the Press.
“These guys are running the economy recklessly.”
McIlroy entered his second round with ground to make up after shooting a three-over 74 on Thursday.
He hit only four of 14 fairways in his first round and, according to PGA Championship Radio Sirius XM, he had been unable to use his usual driver because it was deemed to be non-conforming during testing by the United States Golf Association earlier this week.
The radio station reported that the decision did not mean McIlroy was at fault or even aware of the issue. They also said the USGA said testing results were kept confidential unless the player wanted to make it public.
The early signs in round two were better, a 15-footer dropping for birdie on the second hole, while three more shots were gained around the turn as McIlroy improved to one under par.
However, all of the breathing room he had earned ended up being required during a testing back nine.
An excellent par save on the 13th stopped the rot after two straight bogeys, before birdies on the next two holes restored a gap to the cut line – which was hovering between one and two over par during the latter stages of the second round.
There was some late drama as, heading down the 18th at level par, McIlroy pulled his tee shot left and his ball ricocheted off a hospitality tent before landing close to the water hazard.
But he recovered to make a bogey five, confirming his spot in the final two rounds.
Schauffele had found himself in trouble following two bogeys on the front nine but fought back sufficiently to extend his stay in North Carolina.
SACRAMENTO — One of the many traits that set California apart from other states is the way undocumented immigrants are woven into our communities.
Their economic impact is obvious, and the Golden State would be hard-pressed to keep our status as a world-competing financial power without their labor.
But most Californians know, and are OK with the reality, that at least some of our neighbors, our kids’ classmates, our co-workers, are without legal documents, or in blended-status families.
Gov. Gavin Newsom took a stand Wednesday for those undocumented Californians that seems to have gone largely unnoticed, but which probably will be a big fight in Congress and courts. In his bad news-filled budget presentation, Newsom committed to keeping state-funded health insurance for undocumented residents (with cuts, deep ones, which I’ll get to). Although some are disappointed by his rollbacks, many of which will hit citizens and noncitizens alike, standing by California’s expansion to cover all low income people is a statement of values.
“We’ve provided more support than any state in American history, and we’ll continue to provide more support than any state in American history,” he said.
Sticking with that promise is going to be tough, and likely costly.
This decision comes as Congress considers a Trump-led budget bill that would severely penalize states (there are 14 of them) that continue to provide health insurance to undocumented immigrants. California, of course, has the largest number of such folks on its Medi-Cal plan and would be the hardest hit if that penalty does indeed become the new law — to the tune of $27 billion over six years, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
To put that in perspective, the governor is now estimating a nearly $12-billion budget shortfall this year. That federal cut would add at least $3 billion a year to our costs once it hits.
That federal cut, Newsom said, was “not anticipated in this budget,” which means we are ignoring it for the time being.
Federal programs aren’t open to noncitizens, and no federal dollars are used to support California’s expansion of healthcare to undocumented people.
But Congress is threatening an approximately 10% cut in reimbursements to states that insure undocumented people via the Medicaid expansion that was part of the Affordable Care Act. That expansion allows millions of Americans to have access to healthcare.
Those expansion funds are working in ways that many don’t know about. For example, as Newsom pointed out, behavioral health teams doing outreach to homeless people are funded by Medicaid dollars.
In all, about one-third of Californians rely on Medi-Cal, including millions of children, so this threat to cut federal funds is not an empty one, especially in a lean year.
Katherine Hempstead, a senior policy advisor for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which advocates for universal healthcare, said that the bill being debated by Congress is so full of cuts to healthcare that arguing against the provision penalizing coverage for undocumented people may not be a priority for most Democrats — making it more likely that the cut will get through.
“I don’t know if this is going to be a do-or-die issue,” she said.
Gov. Gavin Newsom presents his revised 2025-26 state budget during a news conference Wednesday in Sacramento.
(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)
And indeed, the pressure by Republicans to kill off coverage entirely for undocumented folks was quick.
“Gov. Newsom has only partially repealed his disastrous policy,” Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Rocklin) said in a statement. “ It needs to be reversed entirely, or Californians will continue to spend billions on coverage for illegal immigrants and our state will lose an even larger amount in federal Medicaid funding.”
Newsom has given economic reasons for sticking with the state’s coverage for all low-income residents, regardless of status. When people don’t have access to routine care, they end up in emergency rooms and that is extremely expensive. And also, Medicaid has to cover that emergency care, so taxpayers often end up spending more in the long run by skimping on upfront care.
“It’s definitely important to the people that get the coverage because they don’t really have an alternative,” Hempstead said.
But that care has been vastly more expensive than California expected, also to the tune of billions of dollars in unexpected costs, in part because so many people have signed up.
To the dismay of many, Newsom’s budget reflects both recent economic woes — a $16-billion revenue hit caused by what he’s dubbing the “Trump slump” — as well as the state vastly understimating the cost of covering those undocumented folks.
That shortfall may force cuts in the coverage that undocumented people qualify for if the Legislature goes along with Newsom’s plan, or even parts of it.
Most notably, it would cap enrollment for undocumented adults age 19 and over in 2026, effectively closing the program to new participants. That’s a huge hurt. His plan also calls for adding a $100 per month premium, and other cuts such as ending coverage for the extremely popular and expensive GLP-1 weight loss drugs for all participants.
“I don’t want to be in this position, but we are in this position,” Newsom said.
Amanda McAllister-Wallner, executive director of Health Access California, called those cuts “reckless and unconscionable” in a statement.
“This is a betrayal of the governor’s commitment to California immigrants, and an abandonment of his legacy, which brought California so close to universal healthcare,” she said.
I strongly believe in universal single-payer healthcare (basically opening up Medicare to everyone), so I don’t disagree with McAllister-Wallner’s point. In better days, I would hope to see enrollment reopen and benefits restored.
But also, we’re broke. This is going to be a year of painful choices for all involved.
Which makes Newsom’s, and California’s, commitment to keep insurance for undocumented people notable. The state could back down under this real federal pressure, could try to find a way to claw back the benefits we have already given.
But there’s a moral component to providing healthcare to our undocumented residents, who are such a valuable and vital part of our state.
Although the fiscal realities are ugly, it’s worth remembering that in providing the coverage, California is sticking with some of its most vulnerable residents, at a time when it would be easier to cut and run.
OVER 150,000 on benefits will see their payments cut under Personal Independence Payments (PIP) changes, the DWP has confirmed.
The Government is shaking up the way PIP is assessed meaning hundreds of thousands will miss out from November 2026.
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It comes as ministers look to cut the increasing welfare bill by clawing back billions of pounds of benefits.
But the changes will also have a knock-on effect on carers who qualify for benefits because they look after someone on PIP.
From late next year, new and existing PIP claimants being reassessed will have to score a minimum of four points in at least one activity to receive the Daily Living Component.
The higher rate of the Daily Living Component is currently worth £110.40 a week.
Claimants will also have to score at least eight points when being assessed.
The Government estimates this means by 2029/30 around 800,000 won’t receive the Daily Living Component of PIP.
But it has also confirmed 150,000 will be missing out on Carer’s Allowance or the Universal Credit Carer’s Element by 2029/30 too.
This is because to receive either of these carer’s benefits you have to be caring for someone who receives the Daily Living part of PIP.
It means new and existing PIP claimants finding they are no longer eligible will disqualify their carer’s from next November when the changes kick in.
Carer’s Allowance is paid to those caring for someone else (who is on benefits) for at least 35 hours a week and is worth £83.30 a week.
You don’t have to be related to the person you care for, or live with them, to qualify.
If you are on Carer’s Allowance you also receive National Insurance credits which contribute to your NI record.
What classes as someone needing “care” is based on them qualifying for a number of benefits. These are:
The person you are caring for must also need help with certain tasks including: washing and cooking, being taken to the doctors and household tasks like managing bills or going food shopping.
Carer’s Allowance is issued to those living in England, Wales or Scotland aged 16 or over.
It’s worth noting, receiving Carer’s Allowance can impact the benefits the person you are caring for gets.
For example, they will usually stop receiving a severe disability premium or an extra amount for severe disability premium if they are on Pension Credit.
You can apply for Carer’s Allowance and find out more about the exact eligibility criteria via www.gov.uk/carers-allowance/how-to-claim.
The carer’s element of Universal Credit is added to your Universal Credit standard allowance if you care for someone and they receive a number of qualifying benefits. These are:
To get the carer’s element you’ll also need to be providing 35 hours a week of care to the person receiving the qualifying benefit.
You get an extra monthly amount worth £201.68.
If you are receiving an extra amount because you have a limited capability for work and work related activity (LCWRA), you won’t qualify for the extra carer’s element part.
Meanwhile, if the person you care for gets the severe disability premium, it will stop when you claim the carer’s element of Universal Credit.
YOU can use a benefits calculator to help check that you are not missing out on money you are entitled to
Charity Turn2Us’ benefits calculator works out what you could get.
Entitledto’s free calculator determines whether you qualify for various benefits, tax credit and Universal Credit.
MoneySavingExpert.com and charity StepChange both have benefits tools powered by Entitledto’s data.
You can use Policy in Practice’s calculator to determine which benefits you could receive and how much cash you’ll have left over each month after paying for housing costs.
Your exact entitlement will only be clear when you make a claim, but calculators can indicate what you might be eligible for.
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