Hundreds of thousands of Alabamians could be impacted by a budget plan under consideration in the U.S. House. The Republican majority is looking at three hundred billion dollars in cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program also known as SNAP. The House plan changes work requirements for able bodied adults and forces states to pay nearly thirty billion dollars more for SNAP benefits. The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities says about three quarters of a million Alabamians used the federal food program in 2024.
The reported list of cuts also includes requiring states, like Alabama, to pay for errors in SNAP payments which the House says amounts to $128 billion dollars. The budget would also limit updates to a USDA program called the “Thrifty Food Plan” which gives guidance to SNAP recipient families on how to support a healthy lifestyle—an alleged savings of $37 billion, so on.
Tax breaks tallying more than $5 trillion — but also sizable reductions in Medicaid health care, food stamps for older Americans and green energy strategies to fight climate change — are all up for debate Tuesday as the House Republicans launch marathon public hearings on their "big, beautiful bill."
It's a long day and night ahead. Republicans are working to push President Donald Trump's signature legislative package through a gauntlet of committee hearings over mounting opposition from Democrats, advocacy groups and even some wary Republicans themselves.
Right from the start, one hearing was immediately disrupted by protesters shouting down what the top Democrat on the committee called "cruel" cuts to Medicaid and other programs.
"People feel very strong because they know they're losing their health care," said House member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., on the Energy & Commerce Committee. He asked for the police to refrain from making arrests, noting that some of the people protesting were disabled.
It's the biggest political and legislative debate for the Republicans leading Congress since Trump's first term, setting up a career-defining clash over the nation's priorities — some $5 trillion in tax breaks, including the president's promises for no taxes on tips, Social Security income and car loan interest, offset by $1.9 trillion in tax savings largely from green energy rollbacks, for a net tally of $3.7 trillion in taxes, according to the most recent estimates.
Trump, speaking at an forum in the Middle East, struck an ambitious chord, saying Congress was "on the verge of passing the largest tax cut and regulation cut in American history."
"If we get that, that will be like a rocket ship for our country," Trump said in Saudi Arabia.
But to be sure, there are many more steps before the package becomes law.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries accused Republicans of "jamming another GOP tax scam" that benefits the wealthy at the expense of programs and services used by Americans.
"It is an egregious and outrageous bill," Jeffries said.
At its core, the goal for GOP lawmakers is to extend — and enhance — tax cuts approved in 2017.
Additionally, the Republicans are boosting spending on their GOP priorities, with $350 billion for Trump's mass deportation plans and funding for the Pentagon.
At the same time, the Republicans are seeking to defray the lost tax revenue and avoid skyrocketing national deficits by with another GOP goal, which is scaling back federal spending with nearly $800 billion cuts to health care, $290 billion to food programs and billions in the Biden-eras green energy investments that millions of Americans rely on in states across the country.
And tucked in is a smattering of other provisions important to the White House — including one that would allow the Trump administration to yank the tax exempt status of groups it says support terrorists, sending a chill through civil society organizations who warn it's a way to punish opponents.
Speaker Mike Johnson is determined to push the package through the House by Memorial Day, sending it to the Senate, where Republicans are working on their own version and approach.
With the slimmest majority in the House, Johnson has just a few votes to spare, and is running into resistance from his party, including lawmakers in the Senate, which also has thin GOP margins.
"In the current form, I can't support it," said Wisconsin Republican Senator Ron Johnson, a deficit hawk who wants deeper spending reductions.
Advocacy groups are protesting the cuts and Democrats, as the minority party in Congress unable to stop the bill, are planning to use the procedural tools available in to slow down the process.
The lawmakers are racing for a July 4 deadline to have the whole package sent to Trump's desk in time to also avoid a dangerous debt default. The Treasury Secretary has said federal tax revenues are running short and Congress needs to raise the spending limit to keep paying the bills.
The package includes a $4 trillion boost to nation's now $36 trillion debt limit, enough to fund operations for several more years.
