An Analysis of H.R. 1
The "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" proposes a sweeping reallocation of national resources and a fundamental restructuring of federal policy. This infographic visualizes the bill's key provisions, from massive new spending authorizations to deep cuts in social and environmental programs.
A Nation's Priorities in Flux: The Big Picture
Total New Spending & Authorizations
The bill directs hundreds of billions in new spending, primarily towards defense and border security, alongside a historic increase in the nation's debt limit.
Increase to the Public Debt Limit
Sec. 113001 proposes a significant increase to the statutory debt ceiling to accommodate the bill's fiscal changes.
Major New Spending Allocations (FY2025)
A visual breakdown of the bill's primary spending categories reveals a strong emphasis on defense and immigration enforcement, funded through a combination of new debt and reallocated resources from other sectors.
Policy Trade-Offs: Rescissions vs. New Investments
The legislation systematically rescinds unobligated funds from climate and environmental programs, many enacted under the Inflation Reduction Act, while creating new financial supports and incentives for the fossil fuel industry.
Reshaping the Social Safety Net
H.R. 1 introduces fundamental changes to SNAP, Medicaid, and federal student aid, generally increasing eligibility requirements, shifting costs to states and individuals, and tying benefits to work participation.
SNAP: New Burdens on States and Beneficiaries
The bill mandates significant changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), including capping the cost of the Thrifty Food Plan, expanding work requirements, and for the first time, requiring states to share in the cost of benefits.
People Could Lose SNAP Benefits
From expanded work requirements for older adults (up to age 64) and stricter state waiver criteria.
New State Share of Benefit Costs
Shifts historic 100% federal funding model, creating major new fiscal burdens for states (Sec. 10006).
In Federal Admin Cost Sharing
Federal reimbursement for state administrative costs is reduced from 50% to 25% (Sec. 10007).
Student Loans: A System Overhauled
Title III eliminates subsidized loans for undergraduates and Grad PLUS loans, while extending the repayment timeline for loan forgiveness under its new "Repayment Assistance Plan."
Medicaid: Work Requirements & New Restrictions
Title IV mandates states implement work requirements for many Medicaid beneficiaries and imposes moratoriums on rules designed to simplify enrollment. It also enacts significant prohibitions on the use of funds.
Mandatory Work Requirements
States must require 80 hours/month of "community engagement" for many non-disabled adult beneficiaries, a policy linked to significant coverage losses in past state experiments (Sec. 44141).
Funding Prohibitions
The bill prohibits federal Medicaid funds for "specified gender transition procedures" (Sec. 44125) and for payments to certain entities that provide abortion services (Sec. 44126).
A New Energy & Environmental Trajectory
The legislation systematically reverses recent federal climate policy, nullifying emissions regulations and rescinding funding for clean energy while mandating a significant expansion of fossil fuel extraction on public lands and waters.
Legislative Nullification of Environmental Rules
The bill bypasses the standard regulatory process to legislatively declare major EPA and NHTSA vehicle emissions and fuel economy standards "shall have no force or effect" (Sec. 42201, 42301).
EPA Light-Duty Vehicle GHG Standards
(2021 & 2024 Rules)
NHTSA CAFE Fuel Economy Standards
(2022 & 2024 Rules)
NULLIFIED BY H.R. 1
Mandatory Fossil Fuel Leasing
Title VIII mandates a dramatic increase in the offering of federal lands and waters for oil, gas, and coal leasing, while reducing royalty rates paid to the government.
Weakening Environmental Reviews
A new process allows project sponsors to pay fees to federal agencies for expedited NEPA environmental reviews, with strict limits placed on the public's ability to seek judicial review of those environmental analyses (Sec. 80151).
Dismantling Green Energy Policy
The bill executes a sharp reversal of federal support for clean energy and climate initiatives, rescinding tens of billions in funding from landmark programs and erecting new barriers to renewable energy development.
Rescission of Key Green Energy & Climate Funds (IRA)
Unobligated funds from dozens of Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) programs are rescinded, effectively halting federal support for a wide range of initiatives aimed at transitioning to a clean energy economy and enhancing climate resilience. The chart below visualizes the scale of the original appropriations for some of the largest programs affected by these cuts.
New Hurdles for Renewables
Beyond rescinding funds, the bill introduces measures that create financial uncertainty and new costs for wind and solar projects on federal lands, potentially discouraging investment.
New Fees on Wind & Solar
Sec. 80181 establishes new acreage rent and capacity fees on electricity proceeds, increasing the direct cost for renewable projects on public land.
Repeal of Fee Certainty
The bill repeals a 2020 provision that was designed to provide fee certainty, creating market unpredictability for developers.
De-Risking Fossil Fuels
In a direct policy contrast, Title IV establishes a new program to financially backstop fossil fuel and nuclear projects against losses from future federal regulatory actions, effectively creating a federal insurance program for these industries.
De-risking Compensation Program
Sec. 41005 allows sponsors of coal, oil, gas, and nuclear projects to enroll and receive compensation for losses due to "qualifying Federal actions," shifting risk from industry to the government.
A New Era of Risk for National Parks
While not always naming them directly, the bill's provisions create a multi-faceted threat to America's national parks and protected areas through funding cuts, increased development on adjacent lands, and weakened environmental safeguards.
Direct Funding Cuts
Sec. 80303 & 80304 rescind unobligated IRA funds for the National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management. These funds were intended for conservation, ecosystem restoration, and projects to enhance climate resilience within and around these public lands.
Encroaching Development
The bill mandates new oil, gas, and mineral leasing on lands that are often gateways to or part of the same ecosystems as national parks, such as the rescinded mineral withdrawal near Minnesota's Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (Sec. 80131).
Weakened Safeguards
By allowing sponsors to pay for expedited environmental reviews and limiting judicial oversight (Sec. 80151), projects near park boundaries with potential impacts on air, water, and wildlife may receive less scrutiny than under current law.
Shifting the Balance of Power
A key point of contention is how H.R. 1 alters the traditional separation of powers, concentrating authority in the Executive Branch while limiting the roles of the judiciary and preempting state laws.
Concentrating Power in the Executive
The bill grants significant new discretionary power and bypasses standard processes, vesting more authority directly in Executive agencies.
- Mandatory Approvals: Legislatively deems natural gas export applications to be in the "public interest," requiring the Executive to approve them without modification or delay (Sec. 41002).
- Discretionary Detention Standards: Grants the Secretary of Homeland Security "sole discretion" over the standards of detention for single adult migrants (Sec. 70101).
- Limiting Secretarial Authority: Curbs the Secretary of Education's ability to issue regulations that increase student aid costs, limiting future executive action (Sec. 30061).
Overriding State & Judicial Authority
The bill contains numerous provisions that preempt state and local laws, impose new financial mandates on states, and strip the judiciary of its traditional oversight role.
- Federal Preemption of State Law: Imposes a 10-year moratorium on any state or local laws that regulate Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems (Sec. 43201).
- Curtailing Judicial Review: Prohibits courts from reviewing the adequacy of environmental impact statements for energy projects where the sponsor paid for an expedited review (Sec. 80151).
- New Mandates on States: Forces states to share in the cost of SNAP benefits for the first time, a major unfunded mandate that limits state budgetary autonomy (Sec. 10006).
- Bypassing the Courts: Directly nullifies final environmental regulations from the EPA and NHTSA by statute, sidestepping the entire judicial review process (Sec. 42201, 42301).
The Fiscal Collision: Costs, Cuts, and Consequences
Policy analyses reveal a staggering fiscal impact from H.R. 1, projecting a multi-trillion dollar increase to the national debt over the next decade. This is driven by a combination of massive new spending on defense and security, large-scale tax cuts favoring corporations and the wealthy, and deep, structural cuts to social safety net programs.
Projected 10-Year Net Cost to the Deficit: Over $5 Trillion
The bill's combination of increased spending and reduced revenue is projected by independent analysts to add more than $5 trillion to the U.S. national debt over ten years. This chart illustrates the primary drivers of that cost.
Deep Cuts to Social Programs
The legislation pays for a fraction of its new initiatives through deep and permanent cuts to programs serving low-income families, seniors, and people with disabilities.
$750+ Billion
Projected 10-Year Cut to Medicaid
Driven by mandatory work requirements (Sec. 44141), reduced retroactive coverage (Sec. 44122), and other eligibility restrictions that are projected to cause millions to lose health coverage.
$300+ Billion
Projected 10-Year Cut to SNAP
Resulting from expanded work requirements for older adults (Sec. 10008), stricter waiver criteria (Sec. 10003), and capping future benefit adjustments (Sec. 10001), impacting millions of food-insecure households.
Tax Cuts Favoring the Wealthy
Title XI makes permanent the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017, which disproportionately benefits high-income households and corporations, further reducing federal revenue.
$2.7 Trillion
Estimated 10-Year Cost of Making TCJA Permanent
According to analyses by organizations like the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, extending these tax cuts is a primary driver of the bill's addition to the national debt.
- Pass-Through Deduction: Permanently allows owners of "pass-through" businesses (partnerships, S-corps) to deduct up to 20% of their business income, a benefit that flows overwhelmingly to the top 1% of earners.
- Lower Individual Rates: Locks in lower top marginal tax rates for the highest earners.
Bolstering Security & Enforcement
The bill allocates over $100 billion for homeland security and immigration enforcement, focusing on physical barriers, detention capacity, and personnel, funded in part by a vast new schedule of non-waivable immigration fees.
Funding the Enforcement Apparatus (FY2025)
A breakdown of key appropriations in Titles VI and VII reveals a massive investment in the physical and operational infrastructure of immigration control.
New Barriers to Legal Immigration
For the first time, H.R. 1 would impose significant, non-waivable fees for humanitarian protections like asylum, creating financial hurdles for those seeking legal pathways.
State and Local Entanglement
The bill provides billions in federal funding that incentivizes or reimburses state and local involvement in federal immigration enforcement activities.
$12 Billion
For State Border Security Reimbursement
(Sec. 60004)
$650 Million
To Expand 287(g) Agreements
(Sec. 70110)
The Unfolding Fiscal Landscape
Title XI makes permanent many individual and business tax cuts from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), introduces new tax provisions, and raises the debt limit to accommodate the bill's overall fiscal impact.
Making the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) Permanent
Many provisions of the 2017 tax law, originally set to expire, would be made permanent, locking in lower rates and other changes.
| Provision Made Permanent | Brief Description |
|---|---|
| Individual Income Tax Rates & Brackets | Maintains the lower marginal tax rates enacted in 2017. |
| Increased Standard Deduction | Continues the nearly doubled standard deduction amount. |
| 20% Deduction for Pass-through Businesses | Makes the Qualified Business Income (QBI) deduction permanent. |
| Increased Child Tax Credit Amount | Maintains the higher credit amount and other modifications. |
Financial Regulation Rollback
Title V dismantles the independent post-Enron audit regulator and curtails the funding of the post-2008 crisis consumer watchdog.
PCAOB
Functions & Powers Transferred to SEC
BCFP (CFPB)
Funding Cap Cut by Over 50%