President Trump has always been at the center of the GOP’s “big, beautiful bill,” but the House made his imprint even greater by drafting policies that center around his remaining time in office.
House Republicans designed key provisions of the massive budget reconciliation package to either sunset when the president’s second term ends, or begin after the 2026 midterm elections that will serve largely as a referendum on his economic policies.
The moves have clear political intentions, in addition to helping limit the budgetary impact of the legislation.
Costly policies fulfilling Mr. Trump’s key campaign promises, like no tax on tips, overtime and Social Security, are all set to expire in 2028 as his second term comes to a close.
If enacted, Republicans will be able to brag about those benefits to voters in the 2026 election cycle as they aim to hold onto their House and Senate majorities. And in 2028, when the GOP looks for a successor to Mr. Trump, presidential contenders could promise to continue his policies.
“It’s for Trump,” Rep. Aaron Bean, Florida Republican and a member of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, told The Washington Times. “Trump is the urge to get it done and to cover his term is something.”
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“We think that if these provisions are popular over the next four years, we’ll be able to extend or modify them going forward,” he said.
New spending in the bill on Trump priorities, like border security and national defense, is also front-loaded in the first few years.
On the flip side, some of the less popular spending cuts in the package are delayed to begin after the 2026 midterm elections, near the end of Mr. Trump’s term.
For example, a requirement for states to start contributing at least 5% of costs for food benefits in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program would not begin until fiscal 2028.
Senate Agriculture Chairman John Boozman, Arkansas Republican, told The Times he’s received feedback that the House measure would have “pretty significant impact to the states” and his panel is considering whether to scale back the SNAP cost-sharing provisions.
The bill also requires states beginning in fiscal 2029 to start charging Medicaid beneficiaries with incomes over 100% of the federal poverty level co-pays of up to $35 for certain services – exempting primary, prenatal, pediatric and emergency care.
Another provision requiring the Department of Health and Human Services to establish a system to prevent individuals from being simultaneously enrolled in multiple state Medicaid programs carries a deadline of fiscal 2030, which begins in the next presidential administration.
Medicaid was created in 1965 to provide health insurance for low-income mothers, children, pregnant women and people with disabilities but was expanded under Obamacare to include low-income, able-bodied adults without dependents earning up to 138% of the poverty level.
Those provisions are just a few of the examples of spending cuts in the bill that begin well after Mr. Trump would face any political consequences for them.
“It’s the easiest thing to do is to have the tax policy and the spending upfront and then have the ‘eat your broccoli’ on the back end in the last five years,” said Rep. Chip Roy, Texas Republican, panning the “politically designed” decisions.
The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget says nearly three-quarters of the deficit impact of the bill occurs in the first four-and-a-quarter years because of front-loaded costs and back-loaded savings.
While Mr. Roy generally opposes those budget gimmicks, he said he “begrudgingly and reluctantly” voted for the bill because of key improvements conservatives secured. That includes moving up the implementation date of Medicaid work requirements from Jan. 1, 2029 to Dec. 31, 2026 and accelerating the phase out of clean-energy tax credits.
Senate tax writers are considering whether to reverse course and delay repealing some of the clean-energy tax credits, many of which come from President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, or IRA.
“If they backslide on IRA, I will run out the door and say absolutely no,” Mr. Roy said.
The bill aims to fulfill all of Mr. Trump’s tax promises, including making permanent his 2017 rate cuts and other breaks from his first term. But when it comes to implementing new tax provisions the president called for during the campaign, most would sunset in 2028 as his term comes to a close.
The provisions designed to fulfill Mr. Trump’s promises of no tax on tips, overtime, Social Security and car-loan interest are among those only available for the next four years under the bill.
The package would create above-the-line deductions for qualified tips and overtime premium pay, meaning those earnings categories would be subtracted from gross income before taxes are applied.
The bill does not fully exempt Social Security benefits from taxes as Mr. Trump called for during the campaign, in part because budget reconciliation rules prohibit lawmakers from fiddling with the retirement entitlement. The measure instead includes a $4,000 deduction for seniors age 65 and older if their gross income does not exceed $75,000, or $150,000 for joint filers.
Taxpayers will also be able to deduct up to $10,000 in interest paid on car loans for vehicles assembled in the U.S., but the deduction phases out for individuals whose adjusted gross income exceeds $100,000, or $200,000 for joint filers.
Although those four provisions would sunset with Mr. Trump’s presidency, they are collectively estimated to cost nearly $300 billion.
House Ways and Means Committee members said they consulted Mr. Trump and administration officials about making the provisions temporary to keep the costs down and did not receive any pushback.
“He just wanted to make sure that they were there for the length of time that he was in office, because he made that promise on the campaign trail,” said Rep. Kevin Hern, Oklahoma Republican.
Rep. Blake Moore said another factor in addition to the cost was the complexity of implementing new tax breaks. The four-year period is a good time to “test the water” and see whether the policies work as intended, the Utah Republican said.
“I’m really appreciative that the Trump administration was like, ’Hey, we wanted these priorities. Let’s see how they work during my administration, and then they’ll probably be on the docket for the next administration … if they’re good, sound policies,’” Mr. Moore said.
Some other tax benefits that the bill only makes available through 2028 include:
• An extra boost in the standard deduction of $1,000 for single filers, $1,500 for head of household filers and $2,000 for married couples filing jointly.
• An extra $500 increase in the child tax credit, which will be $2,500 per child through Mr. Trump’s term and then drop back to $2,000 per child but permanently indexed for inflation.
• A charitable deduction of up to $150 for single filers and $300 for joint filers, made available to taxpayers who claim the standard deduction instead of itemizing.
• A $1,000 federal contribution into new “Trump” savings accounts for U.S. citizens born between 2025 and 2028. Once they turn 18, the account holders can begin taking distributions for higher education, training programs, small business loans or first-time home purchases.
• Lindsey McPherson can be reached at lmcpherson@washingtontimes.com.