We Need to Talk About Rescissions
- indivisiblecinewsl
- Jul 22
- 6 min read
It has been a rough few weeks of seemingly lost battles. But our fight continues as we learn about the repercussions of the Reconciliation Bill (Big Beautiful Bill), and the Recissions Act of 2025.
We must share our information broadly in order to inform others and impact the 2026 election.
Here are resources for you to share as much as possible. In addition, A new resource from Indivisible (National) is: SoSha - a social toolkit that tracks Trump's biggest failures and unpopular policies for you to share on your social media.
What funds were rescinded?
HR 4 Rescissions Act of 2025 Here is a synopsis of the funds rescinded:
This bill rescinds $9.4 billion in unobligated funds that were provided to the Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), various independent and related agencies, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
The rescissions were proposed by the President under procedures included in the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974. Under current law, the President may propose rescissions to Congress using specified procedures, and the rescissions must be enacted into law to take effect.
Specifically, the bill rescinds funds that were provided to the State Department or the President for
Contributions to International Organizations;
Contributions for International Peacekeeping Activities;
Global Health Programs;
Migration and Refugee Assistance;
the Complex Crises Fund;
the Democracy Fund;
the Economic Support Fund;
Contributions to the Clean Technology Fund;
International Organization and Programs;
Development Assistance;
Assistance for Europe, Eurasia, and Central Asia;
International Disaster Assistance; and
Transition Initiatives.
The bill also rescinds funds that were provided for
USAID Operating Expenses,
the Inter-American Foundation,
the U.S. African Development Foundation,
the U.S. Institute of Peace, and
the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Passed the Senate with changes and so went back to the House where it passed late Thursday night. (Congress.gov)
“House Republicans approved a package of $9 billion in spending cuts overnight, handing a win to President Donald Trump. Roughly $8 billion will be pulled from US Agency for International Development (USAID) programs and another $1.1 billion will be withdrawn from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which helps fund NPR and PBS. The measure will now head to the president's desk to be signed into law. A study published recently in The Lancet estimated that the USAID funding cuts could result in more than 14 million additional deaths by 2030.” (CNN)
The Reconciliation Act of 2025: From the BBC:
Steep cuts to Medicaid
To help finance tax cuts elsewhere, Republicans have added additional restrictions to Medicaid, the healthcare programme relied upon by millions of disabled and low-income Americans.
One of the changes is a new work requirement for childless adults without disabilities. Another change to Medicaid is shifting re-enrolment from once a year to every six months, and adding income and residency verifications.
There are also lower provider taxes - which states use to help fund their share of Medicaid costs - from 6% to 3.5% by 2032.
Complaints from some Republicans in states that draw funding from these taxes, especially for rural hospitals, led the Senate to delay the cuts and add a $50bn rural hospital fund.
The Senate bill also proposes tightening eligibility requirements so that able-bodied adults with children aged 15 and over would need to work or volunteer at least 80 hours a month.
The Senate Medicaid work requirement is said to be the strictest ever proposed by Republicans, raising the odds that large numbers of Americans could lose medical coverage as they will not keep up with the new paperwork.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that nearly 12 million Americans could lose their health coverage by the end of the next decade as a result of these changes.
Social Security taxes
On the campaign trail, Trump vowed to eliminate taxes on Social Security income - monthly payments to Americans of retirement age and people with disabilities.
The House bill fell short of delivering on that promise, but it did temporarily increase the standard deduction of up to $4,000 for individuals 65 and over. That deduction would be in place from 2025-28.
Senate Republicans approved an extension of Social Security tax breaks and an increase that would grant a $6,000 tax deduction for older Americans who earn no more than $75,000 a year.
Increasing state and local tax deduction (Salt)
The bill increases the deduction limit for state and local taxes (Salt).
There is currently a $10,000 cap on how much taxpayers can deduct from the amount they owe in federal taxes. That expires this year.
The Senate's approved bill raises it from $10,000 to $40,000 - but after five years, it would return to $10,000.
Cuts to food benefits
Reforms have also been added to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap), which is used by over 40 million low-income Americans.
The Senate bill requires states to contribute more to the programme, which is currently fully funded by the federal government.
The government would continue to fully fund the benefits for states that have an error payment rate below 6%, but states with higher error rates would be on the hook for anywhere from 5% to 15% of the programme's costs.
The change would start in 2028.
The Senate bill also adds work requirements for able-bodied Snap enrollees who do not have dependents.
Boost to defense and border spending
The US military will receive a budget increase of $150 billion under the bill.
The money will be used to bolster the armed forces' shipbuilding capacity, as well as to fund Trump's "Golden Dome" missile defence project.
It will also significantly increase funding for immigration enforcement by allocating $100 billion to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the agency central to the Trump administration's efforts to crack down on illegal immigration in the US.
The additional funding, which will run until 2029, will be used to nearly double migrant detention capacity in the US and hire more enforcement personnel.
Prior to the bill, the existing annual budget for ICE was about $8 billion. The funding boost now makes ICE the largest federal law enforcement agency, according to the non-profit Brennan Center for Justice.
No tax on overtime or tips and other elements
The "no tax on tips" provision in the budget bill would mark a win for one of Trump's promises during the campaign.
The Senate bill being considered by the House would allow individuals to deduct a certain amount of tip wages and overtime from their taxes. However, they propose gradually phasing out those benefits based on annual income, starting at $150,000 for individuals and $300,000 for joint filers. It would expire in 2028.
Child Tax Credit
The Senate legislation would also permanently increase a child tax credit to $2,200 - which is $300 less than what House lawmakers had eyed. The House version required both parents have a Social Security number, but the Senate OK'd a requirement of only one parent.
The upper chamber's bill also proposes raising the debt ceiling by $5tn - more than the $4tn approved by the House last month. The debt ceiling is the limit on the amount of money the US government can borrow to pay its bills.
Lifting the debt limit allows the government to pay for programmes already approved by Congress.
Clean energy incentives reduction
One of the most notable divisions between House and Senate Republicans is the Senate's proposal for clean energy tax breaks.
Although both call for an end to the Biden-era federal clean energy tax credits, Senate Republicans approved phasing them out more slowly.
For instance, the Senate has extended the runway for businesses that build wind and solar farms to still benefit from the tax credits. However, both the House and Senate version seek to deny the credits to companies whose supply chains may have ties to a "foreign entity of concern", such as China.
Companies that begin construction this year could qualify for the full tax break. That drops to 60% if they begin construction in 2026 and 20% if they begin in 2027. The credit would disappear in 2028.
The House version of the bill sought to end the tax breaks for those companies almost immediately.
An additional resource with a great breakdown of the impact of the bill on Hoosiers from the Democratic National Committee: trumptax.com - Democrats
And a resource from the Indiana House Democratic Caucus:
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