The U.S. House passed a sweeping Trump-backed budget Thursday that Democrats say will gut food assistance, slash health care, and devastate Alabama’s most vulnerable—just to bankroll another tax cut for the rich. Republicans cheered, but behind closed doors, many are reportedly uneasy about what it means for the people they’re supposed to serve.
Dubbed the “One, Big Beautiful Bill” by its Republican authors and the “Big Ugly Bill” by critics, the legislation delivers more than $1 trillion in tax cuts for millionaires and corporations—while slashing more than $1 trillion from health care, food assistance and other human services. The tradeoff is brutal: tax breaks for billionaires, and $120 million in new costs dumped on Alabama just to keep food on the table for struggling families.
Rep. Shomari Figures, D-Mobile, who voted against the bill, didn’t mince words in a blistering statement Thursday evening.
“This bill is nothing more than a handout for the rich. Under this bill, on average, if you make $1 million, you get at least a $80,000 tax break each year. That’s nearly three times the median income in Alabama. If you make $50,000, on average, you get less than $250,” Figures said.
“Republicans claim they are the party of fiscal responsibility, but this bill adds trillions to our debt. If we are going to spend more money, it should be to help Americans across the country keep a roof over their heads, clothes on their backs, and food on their tables. It should be to give tax breaks to teachers and school personnel, nurses, social workers, law enforcement, firefighters, first responders, and everyday people. Instead, Republicans have abandoned the people who need help the most. This bill is bad for Alabama, bad for America, and there is nothing beautiful about it.”
Figures introduced an amendment that would have prevented Republicans from shifting the financial burden of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, to states. If the bill becomes law, Alabama will be forced to pay an additional $120 million—a 30 percent increase—to continue providing SNAP benefits. One in four Alabama households relies on SNAP to survive. Republicans blocked the amendment without debate.
Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham, also voted against the bill and released a statement condemning what she called an economic betrayal.
“While the rest of America was sleeping, House Republicans were busy doing the bidding of the billionaire class,” Sewell said. “Instead of keeping their promise to lower costs, Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans have perpetrated the greatest betrayal of working families in modern history and set us on a path to greater inequality, deeper poverty, and needless suffering, all to give another tax break to the wealthy. It is shameful.
“My heart aches for the millions of Americans who will be hit hardest by this cruel and heartless bill—the single mom at risk of losing her child’s Medicaid coverage, the grandmother who may no longer qualify for SNAP, the families in rural Alabama whose nearest hospital may soon be forced to shut its doors.
“House Republicans may have sold them out, but the American people are paying attention, and they will not forget this betrayal,” she concluded.
According to estimates, the bill would remove more than 190,000 Alabamians from their health care coverage and jeopardize food assistance for more than 750,000 people statewide.
Robyn Hyden, executive director of Alabama Arise, issued a statement Thursday condemning the legislation as a “moral failure.”
“It’s wrong to hurt people who are struggling to help people who are already far ahead. But Congress just passed legislation that will do exactly that,” Hyden said. “This budget bill is not only a moral failure. It’s bad policy, and it is a really bad deal for Alabama and our entire country. It also will undermine important bipartisan progress that state policymakers made this year on food affordability and maternal health care.”
Hyden warned the bill would undo years of state-level work aimed at lifting families out of poverty.
“This cruel budget plan will take away food assistance, health coverage and other vital services from tens of thousands of Alabama families who struggle to afford basic needs,” she said. “And it will make those cuts in service of slashing taxes for billionaires and highly profitable corporations, with more than $1 trillion in tax cuts accruing to people in the top income brackets. Meanwhile, more than $1 trillion in funding cuts will impact essential services for people with low incomes.”
While Republican leaders in Washington issued celebratory statements about “economic freedom” and “streamlining government,” their tone behind closed doors tells another story. Several GOP lawmakers from high-need states like Alabama are privately uneasy about the bill’s long-term consequences—but loyalty to Donald Trump and fear of MAGA primary challengers have left them publicly silent.
