Hi Project 47 readers,
Most of President Donald Trump's domestic agenda is riding on the success of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the massive spending bill working its way through Congress. With so much at stake, we launched this special limited series of the Project 47 newsletter to track the bill's progress and help explain how the bill could affect you and your family. (If you would like to opt out of these updates, click here.)
And with that, here's a preview of my latest article on the bill:
President Donald Trump's signature piece of legislation is not only unpopular, but it seems likely to hurt his already low approval ratings and take Republicans down with him.
A recent Washington Post poll showed a plurality of Americans oppose the version of the Republican megabill that narrowly passed the House of Representatives in May, and that's at a time when two-thirds said that they have heard little or nothing about the legislation.
It's only downhill from here. When given details about the "big beautiful bill," voters said they dislike most of the major provisions, such as cutting taxes for corporations and the wealthy and spending billions to build new migrant detention centers. The few things they like, such as tax breaks for parents and on tipped income, are so paltry they aren't likely to give Trump or the GOP much of a boost.
And that's before the bill has even been signed into law.
Recent history suggests it's not going to get any better. While most Americans viewed the Affordable Care Act favorably when then-President Barack Obama signed it in 2010, the majority viewed it unfavorably within a few months, leading House Democrats in the next midterms to the biggest losses in six decades. Public opinion on the law didn't recover until 2017, as Republicans attempted to repeal it.
That was for a law that helped 40 million Americans get health insurance. Trump's bill, by contrast, will make Americans worse off, according to analyses of the House version:
• It would cause 16 million Americans to lose health insurance, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
• It would lead to 4 million fewer Americans getting food stamps, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
• It would increase the deficit by $2.4 trillion over the next decade, according to the CBO.
The populist parts of the bill get more support in polls, but their benefits pale in comparison to those costs.
To dive deeper, you can read the rest of my column here. And check out more of MSNBC's coverage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act below.
