Republicans just passed the most regressive tax plan in history. Now what?

Millions of Americans are only just learning about the law and what’s in it. Now is the time to double down and keep pushing back.

Guest article by Michael Linden, Director of Families Over Billionaires and former Executive Associate Director of the Office of Management and Budget

Last week, Congressional Republicans betrayed working families across the country by passing Trump’s Billionaire Tax Scam. With this law, Republicans are gutting health care and raising costs on everyday Americans in order to give money to their ultra-wealthy donors. I’ve seen a lot of policy in my time working in the White House and on the Hill, but this law is unquestionably the biggest step backward for health care and a fair tax system in modern American history.

Needless to say, it’s been a tough week. All of us will be impacted by this bill in some way, and the consequences are objectively really terrible. Millions will lose their health care coverage. Millions more will see their health costs rise. Families will lose basic food aid to keep their kids fed. Both livelihoods and lives will be lost. All to shovel more tax breaks to the richest people on the planet. This is a law that will make most people pay more so that rich people pay less. For everyone who has been trying to stop this bill from becoming law, it can be hard to keep fighting when it seems like so much progress has been lost.

But we can’t stop fighting now. If we want any hope of overturning this travesty and putting the government back on the side of working Americans, the first task is making sure that Trump and Congressional Republicans do not get away with this massive betrayal.

Right now, millions of Americans are only just hearing about the Tax Scam for the first time. It is a critical moment for shaping public understanding of the bill and holding the shameless politicians who voted for it accountable.

Poll after poll has shown that while we are winning the fight over this law with the public, a lot of work remains to ensure everyone knows what’s in it and who is responsible for passing such a cruel betrayal of working families. Most reliable national polls have shown that nearly half the country knows very little or nothing at all about the Tax Scam.

The leading health care researchers at the Kaiser Family Foundation found the bill was nearly 30 points underwater in early June—35% favorable to 64% unfavorable. However, they also found that 38% think the bill “won’t make much of a difference” for their families, showing just how many people don’t have the information they need about the law’s devastating and widespread impacts. Even Fox News’ recent poll found that the bill is 21 points underwater, but that 40% don’t know what’s in it. That’s where we have an opportunity to continue this important work.

The good news is that we’re actually ahead of the game compared to where we were in 2017 and 2018 when fighting Trump’s first Tax Scam. More people know about this bill, and it’s even more unpopular than that bill was. But we can’t rest on our laurels when so many Americans still don’t know enough. If we leave the field uncontested, Republicans will define the law with their lies.

So what can we do? We keep doing what we’ve been doing—because it’s working. More people are learning about Republicans’ Tax Scam every day, and it’s becoming more and more unpopular as a result. While the bill has become law, if we don’t cede an inch, we can force this subject to remain front and center so Republicans can’t hide from the harm they’ve caused.

So keep demanding answers from your representatives on how they could vote for such a cruel bill. Keep protesting, keep calling, keep demanding town halls—or organizing your own if they’re too cowardly to show up. Keep talking to your friends, family, and neighbors to ensure everyone knows the truth about how harmful Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” will be for their lives—and who is responsible for it becoming law. Tell them how 17 million Americans will lose insurance, and millions more will lose food assistance. Tell them how their electric bills will go up and health care premiums will skyrocket. Tell them how college will be even more unaffordable because of this law. Spread the word, and keep up the pressure.

While we can no longer prevent this disastrous budget from becoming law, if we keep up the pressure, soon enough, there will be opportunities for us to fix what they’ve broken.