CBO: GOP budget bill would take from the poor, give to the rich
Source: Roll Call
Posted June 12, 2025 at 2:58pm, Updated at 3:43pm
The House-passed reconciliation bill would most benefit high earners and reduce financial resources available to the lowest-income households, the Congressional Budget Office said in a distributional analysis of the measure Thursday. The nonpartisan agency said it estimates that over the fiscal 2026 through 2034 period, after-tax income and federal benefits “would decrease for households toward the bottom of the income distribution, whereas resources would increase for households in the middle and top of the income distribution.”
The analysis follows up on an earlier assessment of the bill by the CBO after it was approved by the House Budget Committee, but before it was modified by a manager’s amendment and passed by the House on May 22. The impact on households is driven by the extension of the 2017 tax cuts and additional tax cuts in the bill; reductions in subsidies for health insurance under the 2010 health care law; cuts in federal spending on Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program; increased spending on defense and border security; reductions to federal employee pensions; receipts from spectrum auctions and other changes.
The CBO said on average, household resources would increase over the nine-year period, mainly because of tax cuts that would result in people keeping more of their income. Higher-income households would benefit the most by receiving a larger tax cut because they earn more money. The agency said the lowest 10 percent of earners would see a $1,600 or 3.9 percent reduction in their available income and benefits per year, adjusted for inflation, mainly due to cuts in Medicaid and SNAP. The top 10 percent of earners would see a $12,000 or 2.3 percent increase in their resources thanks to the bill’s tax cuts.
“Those projected increases are mainly attributable to reductions in the taxes households in that decile owe,” the CBO said. Households in the middle of the income distribution would see their resources increase as well, but not by as much — $500 to $1000, or less than 1 percent annually, the analysis said. Rep. Brendan F. Boyle, D-Pa., ranking member on the House Budget Committee, said the results confirmed the “shameful” impacts of the GOP budget bill. He said in a statement that the analysis “shows this would be one of the largest transfers of wealth from working families to the ultra-rich in American history.”
Read more: https://rollcall.com/2025/06/12/cbo-gop-budget-bill-would-take-from-the-poor-give-to-the-rich/
Link to CBO REPORT page - Distributional Effects of H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act
Link to REPORT (PDF) - https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2025-06/61387-Distributional-Effects.pdf