Dems are running against the One Big Beautiful Bill. What can they do if they win?

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Republicans' One Big Beautiful Bill Act has some provisions that have proved popular, like no tax on tips, tax cuts and childhood investment accounts.

But it also has several controversial elements: cuts and new rules that haven't come into effect yet - things like Medicaid work requirements and reduced federal funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), that are scheduled to begin right when the new Congress starts in 2027.

Democratic lawmakers have said that's no coincidence.

"The worst is yet to come," Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) said in a video her office put out this summer. "The way Republicans structured the bill made it so the Medicaid cuts won't kick in until after the November midterm elections."

Changes coming in 2027 include:

        Requiring Medicaid recipients aged 19-64 to prove they are working at least 80 hours a month or attending school at least half-time;

        Barring most legal immigrants and refugees from using premium Affordable Care Act tax credits;

        Cutting asylum grantees and humanitarian parolees off from Medicare;

        Reducing SNAP funding (cuts will vary, depending on the accuracy of a given state's calculations of SNAP eligibility);

        Shortening the Affordable Care Act's enrollment window from two months to one month;

        Ending green energy tax credits. Democrats have been campaigning on the bill's cuts; those that have already gone into effect and those expected next year. In fact, Democrats have been speaking about the law on the trail more so than Republicans, a Post analysis found, suggesting both parties see the bill as a liability for the GOP.

When Republicans do bring up the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, they've focused on the tax cuts included in the law. Democrats have been more focused on the reductions to programs like SNAP - from which more than 4 million people, including more than 1.5 million children, have been dropped since July 2025 - and Medicaid, which is already cutting coverage for hundreds of thousands of people.

Democrats hope to retake the House this fall, and are feeling increasingly bullish about retaking the Senate, too. Part of their focus on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act is likely an effort to try to ensure that if they do have a successful election, voters don't blame them for policies that take effect while they're in control of Congress.

But their attacks also allow Democrats to press the cost of living message they've been running on this cycle - and to promise that even if there are cuts to food assistance or health care credits coming, they will undo what they can.

"We are going to aggressively focus on making life more affordable," Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) said at a news conference last month in which he outlined what his caucus will do if they win a majority. "We have to reverse the Medicaid cuts. We should extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits."

But can Democrats actually do anything about the One Big Beautiful Bill Act?

Maybe not. A Democratic-led House could very likely pass a bill reversing Medicaid cuts, for instance. But President Donald Trump could just as easily veto such a bill, if, that is, it were to make it through the Senate in the first place.

Seemingly aware of these limitations, Democratic lawmakers say they are brainstorming ideas to address individual aspects of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that can win Republican support.

"I think we've demonstrated, House and Senate Democrats together, a willingness to make progress for the American people on the affordability issue even when it involves working with our colleagues on the other side of the aisle," Jeffries said at a news conference Wednesday.

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Previously:
• Dems sound the money alarm in a key battleground
• Republican candidates are breaking with Trump on Iran as midterms looms
• Republicans have one clear advantage this November
• The midterms are over. Sort of
• Working-class Americans aren't running for office. It's changing our politics
• Why this popular Dem is running like he is behind
• The divide between Trump and Vance on Iran
• The bipartisan rise of Flock cameras as a political issue
• Are data centers enough to flip a key House race?
• Voters want fighters. But where is the limit?
• Is the midterm cake baked?
• Is the midterm cake baked?
• For the DNC, no money, more problems