Criminal Law Library Blog
On July 4, 2025, President Donald J. Trump signed into law H.R. 1, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted as Pub. L. No. 119–21, 139 Stat. ___ (2025). Passed through the budget reconciliation process under the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this comprehensive legislation represents a central pillar of the Trump administration’s second-term domestic agenda. It enacts sweeping reforms to the federal tax code, restructures discretionary and entitlement spending. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act does not suspend the debt ceiling through FY 2027. Instead, it raises the debt limit by a specific $5 trillion—an amount projected to sustain federal borrowing for roughly one to two years [i.e., until 2026–27, depending on fiscal trends].
Legislative History and Process
H.R. 1 advanced through Congress under budget reconciliation procedures, thereby circumventing the Senate filibuster and requiring only a simple majority for passage. This expedited pathway allowed the bill’s tax and spending provisions to be consolidated into a single legislative package and enacted swiftly along party lines.
Major Tax Provisions
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Individual Tax Reform: The Act lowers marginal income tax rates across most brackets, increases the standard deduction, and reduces the child tax credit. While the Act makes the individual tax rate changes and the increased standard deduction from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent, it actually reduces the child tax credit by a small amount compared to current law.
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Business Tax Relief: Corporate tax rates are reduced, with new incentives for domestic investment, accelerated depreciation, and sector-specific tax credits. However, it also phases out some clean energy tax credits from the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act.
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Earned Income Tax Credit Expansion: Eligibility for the EITC is broadened to include older low-income workers, and certain noncustodial parents. The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 temporarily expanded the childless EITC to include younger workers (over age 18) and removed the upper age limit, but these changes were only in effect for 2021. H.R. 1 does not make these changes permanent, although recommendations have been made to do so.
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Simplification Measures: Several deductions and credits are repealed or consolidated to streamline the tax code. While some deductions and credits are repealed or consolidated (such as the permanent removal of the moving expense reimbursement benefit, with exceptions for the military), H.R. 1 also introduces new tax breaks like deductions for tips and overtime pay, adding some complexity to the code.
Spending and Programmatic Changes
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Reallocations and Cuts: The Act reduces non-defense discretionary spending while increasing funding for veterans’ services, border security, and energy infrastructure. It includes a significant increase in funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and border security, totaling $170 billion. However, details regarding non-defense discretionary spending reductions and veteran service funding levels need further verification.
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Program Restructuring: It reauthorizes and modifies a range of federal programs—particularly in education, housing, and agriculture—shifting more administrative discretion to the states and limiting federal regulatory authority. It includes changes to Medicaid eligibility requirements and financing, potentially impacting state administration.
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Regulatory Limitations: Provisions expand congressional review powers over agency rules and restrict certain executive regulatory actions.
Debt Ceiling and Fiscal Enforcement
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The One Big Beautiful Bill Act does not suspend the debt ceiling through FY 2027. Instead, it raises the debt limit by a specific $5 trillion—an amount projected to sustain federal borrowing for roughly one to two years [i.e., until 2026–27, depending on fiscal trends].
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Budget enforcement mechanisms are included to promote long-term deficit control and fiscal discipline.
Political and Policy Significance
The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” embodies the administration’s stated goals of tax relief, deregulation, and conservative fiscal governance. It reshapes the federal economic and administrative landscape, with long-term implications for domestic spending, tax policy, and the balance of power between state and federal governments.
Policy Takeaway for Librarians: H.R. 1 – The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”
Enacted on July 4, 2025, H.R. 1, known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” brings far-reaching changes to federal tax policy and domestic spending with significant implications for information professionals and public institutions. The law lowers income and corporate tax rates, expands for some the Earned Income Tax Credit, and streamlines the tax code—changes likely to influence legal reference and tax research. It also reshapes federal funding priorities by reducing non-defense discretionary spending while increasing allocations for veterans’ services, infrastructure, and immigration enforcement.
For librarians—especially those in legal, legislative, or public service settings—this legislation may affect:
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Funding streams for federal and state-supported library programs,
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Public access to tax and benefits information, and
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Demand for guidance on newly authorized regulatory and administrative changes.
Passed through the budget reconciliation process and accompanied by a suspension of the debt ceiling through FY2027, H.R. 1 reflects a shift toward state-driven administration and streamlined federal oversight—raising both opportunities and challenges for information access, digital equity, and public education.
Sources
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Full Text: H.R. 1, 119th Cong. (2025), available at https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1
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Summary: House Committee on Rules, available here.
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- With guidance based on my instructions and the use of externally sourced information, this post was developed with the assistance of ChatGPT-4. Upon completion all of the above statements have been checked though outside sources for factual accuracy.