What's in Trump's big bill? Money for migrant clampdown but tax breaks
and program cuts hit 'bumps'
[May 06, 2025]
By LISA MASCARO
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress is deep into drafting President Donald
Trump's big bill of tax breaks, spending cuts and beefed-up funding to
halt migrants, but it's “bumpy,” one Republican chairman says, with much
work ahead to meet House Speaker Mike Johnson's goal of passing the
package out of his chamber by Memorial Day.
In fact, the tax cuts portion is still a work in progress. As are the
reductions in Medicaid, food stamps and other mainstay government
programs. Mostly, the Republicans, who have the majority in Congress,
have made progress on parts that would increase spending, adding some
$350 billion to the Pentagon and Homeland Security, including money for
the U.S-Mexico border wall.
“There are some bumps in the road," Rep. Jason Smith of Missouri, the
Republican chairman of the powerful Ways and Means tax-writing
committee, acknowledged on “Fox News Sunday.”
All told, some 11 committees in the House are compiling their bills, and
about half have finished up. They are being approved at the committee
level by Republicans, on party-line votes, with Democrats opposed.
But some of the most-watched committees — Ways and Means, Energy and
Commerce and Agriculture — have yet to act. Johnson himself acknowledged
on Monday that his Memorial Day deadline may slip, but vowed “our
timetable is on pace.”
Once all the committees are done, the different pieces of legislation
will be rolled together at the Budget Committee into what Trump calls
“one big, beautiful bill.”
If the House can pass the package, it next would go to the Senate, which
is drafting its own version, for a final product by July 4.
Democrats say they will fight what House party leader Hakeem Jeffries
calls the “extreme Republican agenda.”
Here's a look at what's in and out, so far.
Funding for 1 million migrant deportations, 20,000 new officers and
the border wall
Two of the committees handling immigration- and border security-related
matters have wrapped up their legislation.
Central to the Homeland Security Committee’s bill is $46.5 billion to
revive construction of Trump’s wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, with
some 700 miles of “primary” wall, 900 miles of river barriers and more.
It would provide $4 billion to hire an additional 3,000 new Border
Patrol agents as well as 5,000 new customs officers, and $2.1 billion
for signing and retention bonuses.
All told, the Homeland Security Committee approved $69 billion in new
spending.
At the same time, the Judiciary Committee, which handles interior
immigration enforcement and legal proceedings, has also completed its
$110 billion bill.
It would impose a $1,000 fee on migrants seeking asylum — something the
nation has never done, putting it on par with few others, including
Australia and Iran.
And there are more new fees proposed on various other legal paths to
entry, including a $3,500 fee for those sponsoring unaccompanied
children to enter the U.S., a $2,500 penalty if sponsors of
unaccompanied children skip court appearances and a $1,000 fee for
individuals paroled into the U.S.
Overall, the plan is to remove 1 million immigrants annually and house
100,000 people in detention centers. It calls for 10,000 more
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and investigators.
More money for the Pentagon and Trump's ‘Golden Dome’
The House Armed Services Committee was tasked with drafting legislation
with $100 billion in new spending. But they did that and more, passing a
bill with $150 billion for the Defense Department and national security.
Among the highlights, it would provide $25 billion for Trump's “Golden
Dome for America,” a long-envisioned missile defense shield, $21 billion
to restock the nation's ammunition arsenal, $34 billion to expand the
naval fleet with more shipbuilding and some $5 billion for border
security.
It also includes $9 billion for servicemember quality of life-related
issues, including housing, health care and special pay.
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Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., talks to reporters just
after House Republicans narrowly approved their budget framework, at
the Capitol in Washington, April 10, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott
Applewhite, File)
Overhaul of the student loan repayment plans
A wholesale revamping of the student loan program is the key to the
Education and Workforce Committee's legislation, with $330 billion
in budget cuts and savings.
The proposal would replace all existing student loan repayment plans
with just two: a standard option with monthly payments spread out
over 10 to 25 years depending on the amount borrowed, and a
“repayment assistance” plan with monthly payments based on a
borrower’s income.
The new income-based plan is generally less generous than those it
would replace. Minimum payments for the lowest-income borrowers
would be higher, and forgiveness would be provided after 30 years of
payments instead of 20 or 25. The new repayment plans would take
hold in July 2026.
Among other changes, the bill would repeal Biden-era regulations
that made it easier for borrowers to get loans canceled if their
colleges defrauded them or closed suddenly.
Federal employee pension cuts
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform targeted
federal workers’ pensions for a projected $50.9 billion in deficit
savings over 10 years.
Most of the savings would come from requiring federal workers hired
before 2014 to pay more into the retirement system. They would have
to match the 4.4% salary rate paid by federal workers hired since
2014.
The committee also called for basing a retiree’s annuity payment on
their average top five earning years instead of the top three. And
the committee’s plan would eliminate a temporary, supplemental
payment for newly retired federal workers who retire before they are
eligible for Social Security.
Republicans argued that federal employee retirement benefits outpace
those in the private sector. But critics, including Rep. Michael
Turner, R-Ohio, who voted against the committee's package, said
changing a worker’s pension during the middle of employment is
wrong.
Democrats said the change would result in less take-home pay for
many middle-class Americans in the federal workforce.
More drilling, mining on public lands
The House Natural Resources Committee is set to meet Tuesday to
consider its bill, which largely matches Trump’s executive orders to
open public lands and waters to more natural resource development.
It would allow increased leasing of public lands for drilling,
mining and logging while clearing the path for more development by
speeding up government approvals. Royalty rates paid by companies to
extract oil, gas and coal would be cut, reversing former President
Joe Biden’s attempts to curb fossil fuels to help address climate
change.
Oil and gas royalty rates would drop from 16.7% on public lands and
18.75% offshore to a uniform 12.5%. Royalties for coal would drop
from 12.5% to 7%.
The measure calls for four oil and gas lease sales in the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge over the next decade. It also seeks to
boost the ailing coal industry with a mandate to make available for
leasing 6,250 square miles of public lands — an area greater in size
than Connecticut.
Republican supporters say the lost revenue would be offset by
increased development. It’s uncertain if companies would have an
appetite for leases given the industry’s precipitous decline in
recent years as utilities switched to cleaner burning fuels and
renewable energy.
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Associated Press writers Kevin Freking and Collin Binkley in
Washington and Matthew Brown in Billings, Montana, contributed to
this report.
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