“It literally uses our tax dollars to drive inequality and the stripping away of civil rights, which this president promises with the stroke of his poisoned pen,” said Maya Wiley, president of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.
President Donald Trump took a political victory lap on Independence Day as he officially signed the “One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act” into law, fulfilling his goal of passing his entire MAGA agenda in one colossal bill, packed with massive tax cuts and increased funding to enforce his aggressive immigration policies.
Just before signing the bill during a Fourth of July picnic at the White House on Friday, Trump praised his achievement of enacting the “largest tax cut in the history of our country.” He proclaimed, “Our country is going to be a rocket ship economically.”
Black leaders are decrying what they call the “Big Ugly Bill,” which makes historic cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, and education services — social programs that Black Americans disproportionately rely on — to pay for Trump’s $3.8 trillion tax cuts, which experts warn will overwhelmingly benefit millionaires and billionaires and not everyday Americans.
“Republicans made their priorities clear: greed over good, cruelty over care, and billionaires over Black lives,” said Kristin Powell, executive director at Black to the Future Action Fund. “Make no mistake — this devastating bill is a direct assault on Black communities and the basic rights we fight for 24/7.”
Maya Wiley, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, said the “Big, Beautiful Bill” will devastate American lives, as they will lose access to health care, food assistance, and even mental health support for students.
“What does it give us instead? More ICE raids on two-year-olds and high school students, on grandparents, and on workers. It gives us poorer schools and richer billionaires,” said Wiley. “It literally uses our tax dollars to drive inequality and the stripping away of civil rights, which this president promises with the stroke of his poisoned pen.”
The civil rights leader said Trump and Republicans can “spin it any way they want, but people will suffer.” She added, “But make no mistake: This big, bad economy-busting bill is a bill that will hurt people in every community, of every race, and in far too many ways.”
Democrats are gearing up to use Trump’s “Big” bill against him and Republicans in upcoming special elections this year and midterms in 2026.
U.S. House of Representatives Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who made history on Thursday with the longest House floor speech after nearly 9 hours of talking about how “ugly” Trump’s bill is, appeared to preview what to expect from Democrats in the coming days, months, and over the next year.
“I know that people are concerned with what’s happening in America, but understand what our journey teaches us is that after Project 2025 comes Project 2026,” said Jeffries.
Project 2025 was a conservative policy manifesto published by Trump allies and administration officials that laid out much of Trump’s legislative agenda since he took office in January. Jeffries signaled that “Project 2026” will be the Democrats’ response to the enactment of Project 2025, emphasizing that voters “will have an opportunity to end this national nightmare.”
“We recognize the villainous budget for what it is, just as we recognize those who support it for the villains they are — so do the American people,” said U.S. Rep. Yvette D. Clarke, D-N.Y., the chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, during a press conference ahead of the bill’s passing on Capitol Hill.
Clarke described the bill as a betrayal and vowed, “We are going to tell the American people exactly who hurt them.”
Democratic strategist Antjuan Seawright told theGrio it is crucial for Democrats to execute “message discipline” as they “educate and update” Americans about the impacts of the “One, Big, Beautiful Bill.”
“The consistency and the continuity of that is not always the case in the Democratic Party,” said Seawright. However, the Democratic insider says his party has a “blank canvas type of moment,” explaining, “We get to control the message, and not we get out-messaged or the other messengers out-message us.”
Seawright said Democrats are working on the “preamble” to Project 2026, telling theGrio, “We’re fertilizing the ground.”
Powell of Black to the Future Action Fund said Republicans are also “counting on this bill becoming signed into law with no consequences,” adding, “We will be their consequence.”
“We still have local and state power, and we can still resist. At Black to the Future Action Fund, we’ll keep fighting to build Black political power and usher in a future where all Black people can thrive,” she said.
“We will not be silent. We will not back down. We will not forget the sources of the scandalous cuts that have helped to stabilize people’s lives in a country becoming too expensive for too many,” said Wiley of The Leadership Conference. “We will make sure our communities are informed, empowered, and energized to keep rising up and marching on for an America that lives up to its ideals over the greed of the powerful few.”
