Ten Sneaky Sleeper Provisions in Trump's Big Beautiful Bill

[justaprogressive]

The headlines in the budget reconciliation bill that passed the House by one vote early Thursday morning are well known: massive tax cuts for the rich financed by crippling program cuts in Medicaid and food stamps, raising the federal debt by $3.3 trillion over a decade, and in turn spooking bond markets. But a lot of other mischief is buried in the fine print. Here are ten of the worst:

Crippling Courts. The bill, hiding behind the premise that it is an appropriations measure, prohibits any funds from being used to carry out court orders holding executive branch officials in contempt. This is designed to enable Trump and his officials to continue defying court orders. It is almost certainly unconstitutional—if courts have the nerve to say so.

Bonus for the Tax Prep Industry. The Biden administration sponsored a Direct File measure to allow taxpayers to save money by using a free IRS tool to file their tax return rather than paying commercial tax preparers. The program is now available to taxpayers in 25 states. The reconciliation bill repeals the program.

More Savaging of Migrants. The bill adds $45 billion to build immigration jails—more than 13 times ICE’s current detention budget. The bill would allow indefinite detention of immigrant children. It also adds several fees intended to harass. The measure charges families $3,500 to reunite with a child who arrived alone at the border, and a person seeking asylum will have to pay an “application fee” of at least $1,000.

https://prospect.org/blogs-and-newsletters/tap/2025-05-23-ten-sneaky-sleeper-provisions-trumps-big-beautiful-bill/

[Bayard]

1. I would bet,

That Crippling the Courts bit came directly from the White House.

[sinkingfeeling]

2. Hideous misuse of taxpayer money.