The Republican Recap: Week of May 19, 2025
Passing One Big, Beautiful Bill to Advance President Trump’s Agenda and Deliver for Americans ✅
Since passing the budget resolution earlier this year, committees have been hard at work drafting the reconciliation bill that will deliver President Trump’s America First agenda and the promises House Republicans made to the People. President Trump's One Big, Beautiful Bill prevents the largest tax hike in history; reestablishes American energy dominance by unleashing domestic production; secures the southern border and delivers much needed resources to carry out the President's immigration agenda; restores Peace through Strength, and secures historic spending reductions while protecting essential programs.
Additionally, the legislation saves the average American family $1,700 – the equivalent of 9 weeks of groceries; increases real annual take-home pay for a median-income household with two children by around $4,000 to $5,000; and raises annual real wages by about $2,100 to $3,300 per worker.
If this legislation does not become law, we will see the biggest tax hike in history with the average taxpayer seeing a 22 percent tax hike. We cannot allow this to happen – families are already struggling under high costs. This week, House Republicans passed this historic reconciliation bill our committees crafted together to fulfill our promises to the American people, put America first, restore the American dream, and solidify this as the golden age of the United States.
H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, sponsored by Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington, incorporates the historic changes laid out in our budget resolution into one big, beautiful bill that includes legislation to deliver for Americans by cutting waste and government spending, reducing burdensome regulations, providing tax cuts that support families and small businesses, supporting domestic energy production and security, and securing the border.
“Over the last four years, the American people have suffered one self-inflicted disaster after another—from the chaos at our southern border, to our crime ridden streets, to a cost-of-living crisis that decimated working families from sea to shining sea—leaving America weaker, more divided, and more vulnerable than it has been in generations. In November, the American people gave President Trump an historic mandate and unified Republican leadership in Congress to reverse course on these failed policies and their disastrous consequences,” said Chairman Arrington. “The One Big Beautiful Bill Act delivers exactly that: the greatest single investment in border security and national defense; the largest tax cuts for families and small businesses; the most significant commitment to unlocking America’s energy resources; and the largest reduction in spending in the history of the United States—by two-fold. I urge my Senate colleagues to take up our balanced reconciliation package—and only consider changes that further strengthens our fiscal reforms—so we can quickly advance this One Big Beautiful Bill to the President’s desk and deliver on our promise to Make America Great Again.”
What Members Said:
“Working families, farmers, and small businesses win with this bill. We expand and make permanent the Small Business deduction and increase the Child Tax Credit, the standard deduction, and the Death Tax exemption. President Trump promised no tax on tips, overtime pay, and car loan interest. Hard working Americans working overtime get up to $1,750 more in their pocket under this bill. Those working for tips get $1,700 more, and families buying U.S. made cars can deduct their auto loan interest,” said Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith. “President Trump promised no taxes on Social Security, and in this bill, we deliver: low and middle income seniors on Social Security will now have their tax liability erased with an increase in their standard deduction. Under this bill, if you build businesses here in America, you win.”
Nullifying Biden’s Burdensome Bank Merger Rule ✅
In September 2024, the Biden Administration published an Office of Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) rule to amend the Bank Merger Act of 1986, adding bureaucratic hurdles and complicating the bank merger approval process by removing the expedited review process and streamlined applications for smaller, well-capitalized institutions.
This Biden-era regulation imposed burdensome red tape on the bank merger approval process through convoluted new standards, making it more difficult for banks of all sizes, particularly community and regional banks, to merge and compete – threatening access to financial services for hardworking Americans.
Let’s not try to fix a problem that didn’t exist – increasing bureaucracy only makes things harder on American businesses and taxpayers. House Republicans passed legislation to prevent future administrations from implementing similar onerous regulations like the Biden OCC rule.
S.J. Res 13, introduced by Sen. John Kennedy, overturns the Biden OCC’s burdensome “Business Combinations Under the Bank Merger Act” final rule that ends automatic approvals under the expedited review procedure and gets rid of streamlined applications, ensuring consistent, transparent standards of evaluation for merger applications.
“Bank mergers create competition and efficiency in the banking system,” said Rep. Andy Barr. “By eliminating this rule, we will remove unnecessary guardrails on the bank merger process that make smaller and medium-sized banks less competitive. This is another win for President Trump, who is making our economy stronger by cutting government red-tape and unleashing the free market.”
What Members Said:
Reversing Biden’s Counterproductive EPA Rule Reestablishing “Once In, Always In” ✅
Last year, the Biden Administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a final rule reimposing the Clean Air Act’s “Once In, Always In” policy that states facilities classified as “major sources” of emissions will always be classified as such and can never reclassify as “area sources,” which would allow them to adhere to less burdensome standards.
This means that even if facilities take huge steps to significantly reduce emissions and make improvements to help the environment, they will still be subject to the more stringent requirements that come with the “major source” classification – providing no incentive for companies to make progress reducing emissions.
By taking aways incentives for emissions reductions and environmental improvements and permanently imposing one-size-fits-all regulations on facilities with no flexibility or ability to adapt to changes over time, this troublesome Biden EPA rule could actually harm the environment, in addition to levying significant costs, while providing no significant benefits to the environment. House Republicans passed legislation that overturns this damaging Biden-era rule and restores the opportunity for facilities to reap the benefits of making progress and reducing emissions.
Sen. John Curtis’ legislation, S.J. Res 31, nullifies the Biden EPA’s “Review of Final Rule Reclassification of Major Sources as Area Sources Under Section 112 of the Clean Air Act” rule imposing permanent red tape on companies classified as “major sources” and removing incentives to reduce emissions, restoring common sense and encouraging progress.
“This legislation is a win for American energy, innovation, and environmental stewardship. Right now, businesses that invest in cleaner technology and significantly reduce their emissions are still permanently labeled as major polluters. That makes no sense—and it removes any real incentive to improve,” said Rep. Julie Fedorchak. “Our resolution fixes that by allowing facilities to reclassify once they’ve made meaningful progress. It rewards innovation, encourages continued investment in emissions reduction, and strengthens our economy by giving energy producers and manufacturers the certainty they need to grow, compete, and lead. I’m honored to have my first resolution pass the House and look forward to President Trump signing it into law.”
What Members Said:
“What does this rule do? Well, it shackles businesses with burdensome red tape under what's called the “Once In, Always In” policy. That means once a facility is deemed a major source of emissions, even if it invests heavily in modern equipment and successfully lowers its emissions, it's still locked into that stricter classification forever – period. No credit for their cleaning up their act, no incentive to improve, just more bureaucracy, Mr. Speaker. Let's be clear: this rule is anti innovation, anti investment and anti American,” said Rep. Randy Weber. “Repealing this misguided rule would do what we should have done all along: encourage facilities to reduce emissions by giving them a path to reclassify as area sources once they meet that threshold. That's not only good for industry – it's good for our environment. It is a true win-win.”
Distribution channels: U.S. Politics
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