Senate GOP Passes Sweeping One Big Beautiful Bill Act

Republicans in the U.S. Senate have narrowly passed President Donald Trump's signature domestic policy package – the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" – after a dramatic floor vote that ended in a 50-50 tie, broken by Vice President JD Vance. The legislation, introduced as an amendment to H.R. 1, represents a sweeping overhaul of federal policy across agriculture, transportation, energy, defense, tax, healthcare and more. The bill now heads to the U.S. House of Representatives, where GOP leaders face another high-stakes battle to secure passage. With the July 4 holiday looming, Republican leadership is racing to deliver the bill to the president's desk in time for a celebratory signing. The coming days will be critical as negotiations intensify and stakeholders mobilize to shape final provisions.

Below is a summary of key highlights by sector.

Agriculture, Nutrition and Rural Development

Nutrition andSupplemental Nutrition Assistance Program(SNAP) Reforms

• Makes adjustments to the Thrifty Food Plan and restricts future cost increases
• Tightens SNAP work requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents
• Adjusts allowable deductions for internet expenses and modifies utility allowance rules
• Imposes stricter state cost-sharing based on payment error rates

Commodity and Farm Program Overhauls

• Increases reference prices for major crops (e.g., corn, soybeans, wheat) and expands base acre allocations
• Allows producers to elect the higher of Price Loss Coverage (PLC) or Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) for 2025
• Raises payment limits and changes adjusted gross income (AGI) thresholds for program eligibility
• Provides economic adjustment assistance for textile mills
• Extends the U.S. sugar program through 2031 with increase in sugar loan rates and storage rates
• Continues funding through 2031 for feral swine eradication

Disaster Assistance and Crop Insurance

• Enhances livestock indemnity payments, including for unborn livestock
• Expands access for forage and tree loss programs
• Launches a poultry insurance pilot program and increases support for beginning farmers

Conservation, Forestry and Rural Investment

• Moves funding for Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) and watershed programs into baseline of Farm Bill (by rescinding IRA funding)
• Rescinds unobligated Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) funded forestry programs
• Expands trade promotion, research and rural energy programs
• Provides $60 million for scholarships for students at 1890 Institutions

Defense and National Security

Military Quality of Life

• Allocates $9 billion for improvements to housing, healthcare, childcare and family support, including:
  • $1 billion for modernization of unaccompanied housing
  • $2.9 billion to supplement basic housing allowances
  • $590 million to expand servicemember temporary lodging allowances
  • $2 billion for the defense health program
  • additional authority for public-private partnership solutions for military unaccompanied housing

Shipbuilding and Naval Power

• Allocates $29 billion for shipbuilding and the maritime industrial base, including:
  • $4.6 billion for an additional Virginia-class submarine
  • $5.4 billion for two guided missile destroyers (DDG)
  • $2.1 billion for development of medium unmanned surface vessels
  • $1.7 billion for workforce development and expansion of the shipbuilding industrial base
  • $1.3 billion for the expansion of unmanned underwater vehicle production

Missile Defense

• Provides $25 billion in funding for President Trump's Golden Dome for America initiative, creating a layered missile defense system for the U.S., including space-based systems, as well as:
  • $400 million for the Multi-Service Advanced Capability Hypersonic Test Bed (MACH-TB) program
  • $5.6 billion for space-based interceptors
  • $2.2 billion for acceleration of hypersonic defense
  • $500 million for national security space launch infrastructure

Munitions

• Allocates $25 billion for expanding munitions production capacity, strengthening supply chain resilience and developing reliable sources of critical minerals; represents a systematic approach to ensure the U.S. has sufficient stockpiles for sustained combat operations and a resilient industrial base

Expedite Innovation to the Warfighter

• Allocates $16 billion to scale production of new technologies and expedite delivery of low-cost, attritable weapon systems, including:
  • $2 billion for Defense Innovation Unit to scale commercial technology for military use
  • $1.4 billion for small unmanned aerial systems industrial base expansion
  • $125 million for small modular nuclear reactors
  • $1.5 billion for low-cost cruise missiles
  • $90 million for reusable hypersonic technology
  • $1 billion for the Office of Strategic Capital

Air Superiority

• Allocates $9 billion for the acceleration of next generation aircraft and unmanned systems, including:
  • $3.2 billion for F-15EX fighter aircraft
  • $678 million for collaborative combat aircraft
  • $400 million for F-47 sixth generation fighter

Nuclear Deterrence

• Allocates $15 billion for modernization of the nuclear triad, including:
  • $1 billion for National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) facility construction and infrastructure improvements
  • $1.5 billion for expansion of production capacity for the B-21 bomber aircraft
  • $2.5 billion for risk reduction for the Sentinel Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Program
  • $2 billion for development of the nuclear armed sea-launched cruise missile

Indo-Pacific Deterrence

• Allocates $12 billion to improve readiness of Indo-Pacific forces and acquire capabilities, including:
  • $3.6 billion for U.S. military satellite development and protection
  • $1.6 billion for infrastructure and additional airfields
  • $1 billion for offensive cyber operations

Military Readiness

• Allocates $16 billion to address maintenance backlogs, improve facilities and enhance operational readiness of U.S. military forces, including:
  • $2 billion for U.S. Navy depot and shipyard modernization
  • $1.5 billion for U.S. Army depot modernization
  • $1.6 billion for Special Operations Command readiness
  • $4.6 billion for U.S. Air Force facility improvements and aircraft readiness and spares

Border Security

• Allocates $1 billion to support border, immigration and counterdrug enforcement

Munitions and Supply Chain Resiliency

• Allocates more than $15 billion for long-range missiles, torpedoes, solid rocket motors and autonomous munitions
• Creates new automated munitions factories and expands critical minerals stockpiles
• Establishes a $5 billion capital assistance program for defense industrial base projects

Transportation

Aviation and Air Traffic Control

• Invests $12.52 billionfor federal air traffic control modernization, including radar replacement, telecommunications upgrades and new air traffic control centers, including:
  • $4.75 billion for telecommunications infrastructure modernization and system upgrades
  • $3 billion in radar systems replacement
  • $1.9 billionfor construction of a new Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC)
  • $1 billion for Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) recapitalization
  • $500 millionfor runway safety technologies and airport surface surveillance
  • $100 millionfor advanced training technologies for air traffic controllers
• Rescinds unobligated fundsfor Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) alternative fuel and Low-Emission Aviation Technology programs authorized under Section 40007(A) of the IRA
• Reduces the BRAND USA travel portion funds from $100 million to $20 million

Surface Transportation

• Rescinds unobligated funding from several IRA transportation programs, including Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Neighborhood Access and Equity (NAE) Grants, Environmental Review Implementation Funds and Low-Carbon Transportation Materials Grants, along with U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) Clean Ports Grants
• Eliminates the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) civil penalties
• Does not include the House-passed annual fee for electric and hybrid vehicles

Space and Launch Infrastructure

• Requires the U.S. Department of Transportation to assess fees for space launches and reentries according to payload weight
• Adds $10 billion for a Mars Telecommunications Orbiter; Artemis program's Lunar Gateway, Space Launch System and Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle; International Space Station; and other NASA priorities

U.S. Coast Guard (USCG)

• Appropriates $24.6 billionfor USCG mission readiness, including procurement of cutters, aircraft and shore infrastructure

Energy and Environment

Oil and Natural Gas

• Repeals IRA provisions that raised royalty rates, reinstates pre-IRA royalty rates and establishes minimum oil and gas leasing on public lands and waters
• Mandates quarterly onshore oil and gas lease sales on public lands in key western states
• Requires 30 offshore lease sales in the Gulf of America (at least two per year for the next 15 years) and six in the Cook Inlet area of Alaska by 2040
• Expands leasing in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A)
• Repeals the IRA requirement for the payment of royalties on methane produced on oil and gas leases on public lands and waters
• Repeals funding for the methane emissions and waste reduction incentive program for petroleum and natural gas systems created by the IRA

Coal and Mining

• Reduces coal royalty rates to 7 percent through 2034
• Makes available the leasing of 4 million acres of known coal reserves
• Authorizes mining of federal coal adjacent to private lands

Renewables

• Imposes new acreage rents and capacity fees on wind and solar projects on federal lands
• Rescinds funding for dozens of IRA-created clean energy programs, including the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF)

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Loan Programs Rescinded and Refocused

• Repeals several IRA loan authorities and rescinds billions in unobligated credit subsidy, including:
  • $3.6 billion for DOE's Title 17 loan guarantee program
  • $3 billion for the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) loan program
  • $5 billion for the Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment (EIR) program under Section 1706
• Eliminates remaining IRA funding for the Tribal Energy Loan Guarantee Program and multiple DOE grant programs for transmission deployment and siting
• Revises and reauthorizes Section 1706 of the Energy Policy Act as a new Energy Dominance Financing authority; capitalized with $1 billion and enables DOE to guarantee loans that:
  • repower, repurpose or expand existing energy infrastructure, including fossil, nuclear and critical minerals projects
  • includes projects that improve grid reliability or increase capacity and output, but explicitly bars support for projects receiving other forms of direct federal financial assistance

Energy Tax Incentives

• Significantly revises energy tax incentives included in the IRA

Tax and Financial Policy

Permanent Trump-Era Tax Cuts

• Makes individual rate reductions, standard deduction increases and child tax credit enhancements permanent
• Extends 20 percent pass-through deduction and estate tax exemption increases
• Provides President Trump's promises: no tax on tips (deduction amount capped at $25,000), no tax on overtime (deduction amount capped at $12,500) and no tax on new car loan interest

Business and International Tax Reforms

• Restores full expensing for equipment and domestic R&D
• Modifies interest deduction limits and international tax rules
• Provides full expensing for new manufacturing, production and refining facilities
• Enhances credits for advanced manufacturing and spaceports

Charitable and Community Incentives

• Permanently extends Opportunity Zones, New Markets Tax Credit and Low-Income Housing Tax Credit
• Reinstates above-the-line charitable deduction for non-itemizers

Green Tax Credit Repeals

• Eliminates clean vehicle, energy efficiency and hydrogen production credits
• Phases out advanced manufacturing and clean electricity credits

Healthcare and Medicaid

Medicaid and Affordable Care Act (ACA) Eligibility

• Grandfathers existing Medicaid provider tax and state directed payment programs through Jan 1, 2028
• Requires states to verify eligibility and remove deceased individuals from Medicaid rolls
• Imposes work requirements and cost-sharing for expansion populations
• Limits premium tax credits for undocumented immigrants and unverified enrollees

Medicare and Rural Health

• Increases payments for rural hospitals and expands telehealth coverage
• Delays implementation of long-term care staffing rules

Education and Student Loans

Education Tax Provisions

• Establishes a new federal income tax credit for donations to state-approved Scholarship Granting Organizations (SGOs)
• Makes permanent the tax exclusion for employer-paid student loan assistance
• Expands the allowable uses of 529 accounts to include K-12 education expenses
• Modifies the endowment tax structure for certain private colleges and universities

Student Loan and Repayment Policies

• Limits borrowers' ability to pause federal student loan payments during periods of unemployment or financial hardship
• Eliminates the Graduate PLUS loan program and sets annual and aggregate borrowing limits for graduate and professional students
• Maintains the Parent PLUS loan program but imposes new borrowing restrictions and caps aggregate amounts per student
• Replaces existing Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) plans with a single Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) and offers a Standard Repayment Plan with a fixed monthly amount to be paid over a fixed period of time

Pell Grant Changes

• Expands Pell Grant eligibility to students enrolled in short-term workforce training programs at accredited institutions
• Eliminates Pell Grant eligibility for students receiving full financial aid packages from other sources
• Provides funding to address the projected Pell Grant shortfall

Accountability Measures

• Rejects the institutional "risk sharing" proposal advanced by the House and replaces it with a provision that measures programmatic performance based on earnings four years after program completion

Immigration and Border Security

Fee Increases

• Imposes new or higher fees for asylum, visas, temporary protected status (TPS) and certain employment authorizations

Enforcement Funding

• Appropriates billions for U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and border wall infrastructure
• Expands detention capacity, deportation operations, screening procedures and law enforcement training

What This Means for Clients

This megabill represents a bold and far-reaching legislative vision. If enacted, it would:

• reshape federal farm and nutrition programs
• renews focus on oil, gas and coal production on federal lands and waters
• repeal key elements of the IRA
• permanently extend major tax cuts
• invest heavily in defense modernization and Indo-Pacific deterrence
• tighten eligibility for healthcare and education benefits

Next Steps

Clients should assess potential impacts and prepare for regulatory and funding shifts.

Holland & Knight's Public Policy & Regulation Group, along with other attorneys in relevant practices, stand ready to assist clients who have questions about potential impacts to your business. Holland & Knight will issue additional alerts and analysis in the coming days regarding specific implications to various sectors.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.