Here’s Where The Senate’s Big Spending Bill Differs From The House

Now, there are two versions of the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” and Republican lawmakers will need to work out some key differences.

The Senate Finance Committee released its version of the spending and tax bill this week, setting up a battle among Republican lawmakers to finalize the “One Big Beautiful Bill” legislation favored by President Donald Trump. The Senate’s version of the bill has some key differences with the one passed last month by the House of Representatives, and lawmakers will have to agree on a compromise before it can become law.

Republicans are in the driver’s seat of the process because they hold majorities in both chambers of Congress. Because the bill is written using the special “reconciliation” process, the Democrats can’t use a “filibuster” to block it, like the minority party can with most legislation.

While both versions of the reconciliation bill extend Trump’s 2017 tax cuts and cut SNAP food aid, there are some major differences in how they would implement taxes and government benefits in the years ahead.

Here are some key differences.

The Senate’s Version Cuts Medicaid More

Both versions of the bill make cuts to Medicaid, the government’s state-federal health insurance program for people with low incomes. They would also remove people from Obamacare plans by allowing Biden-era tax credits to expire.

Both versions would also reduce federal funding to state Medicaid programs.

Beyond that, the two bills converge.

The House bill would require recipients to prove they were working, volunteering, or in school for at least 80 hours per month. The Senate’s version would make those requirements stricter, for example, by exempting only parents with children under 14 from the policy, unlike parents with dependent children under the House version.

The Senate version also would remove coverage for many legal immigrants, with some exceptions.

The Senate’s Version Would Limit Some Of The New Tax Cuts

The Senate’s version would give a smaller child tax credit expansion than the one that passed the House: the credit would be raised to a maximum of $2,200 per child instead of $2,500 per child in the House version.

The Senate’s version would also limit the amount of tips and overtime pay people can deduct on their income tax returns, up to $12,500 for an individual and $25,000 for a married couple filing jointly. The House version had allowed unlimited deductions, effectively eliminating tax on that kind of income.

One Tax Break Would Get More Generous

Seniors would get a $6,000 income deduction under the Senate bill, versus $4,000 in the House version, expanding the new tax break for people 65 and over.

The Bill Would Be More Expensive

The Senate’s version would also phase out President Joe Biden’s green energy tax credits more slowly than the House version, and make permanent some business tax benefits that the House version extended for five years, both of which would increase the cost of the bill over a 10-year time frame, economists at Goldman Sachs estimated.