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After months of intense back-and-forth negotiations, on-the-floor haggling and threats to tank the legislation, Republicans’ massive tax and spending bill is heading to President Donald Trump’s desk to become law.
The wide-ranging megabill is the vehicle for much of Trump’s domestic policy agenda for his second term in the White House, with major changes in health care, immigration and tax policy that are sure to touch nearly every American. Here are the major ways Texas will be affected.
ACA and Medicaid
Over 300,000 Texans could lose their health insurance once the Medicaid changes passed by Congress take effect in 2027.
Medicaid, a federal-state health insurance program for low-income and disabled people, insures over 4 million Texans. The federal government paid for nearly two-thirds of the program’s $57 billion costs in Texas during the 2023 fiscal year, according to KFF, a nonprofit health policy organization. Using estimates from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, KFF projects that Texas stands to lose 10% of its federal Medicaid funds over the next decade, or $39 billion.
The cuts could be particularly potent in the Rio Grande Valley, which has an outsized number of Medicaid recipients, and in rural areas, where hospitals rely on Medicaid payments. Texas already has the highest uninsured rate in the nation.
Beyond Medicaid, the bill makes it harder to enroll in coverage through Affordable Care Act marketplaces and allows for the expiration of Biden-era enhanced premium tax credits that lower out-of-pocket costs for people with ACA marketplace coverage. Because Texas is among the 10 states that have never expanded Medicaid under the ACA, its residents rely heavily on marketplace coverage and the soon-to-expire tax credits.
Taken together, KFF estimates that the megabill’s provisions will lead to 1.7 million Texans losing their coverage, adding to the nearly 5 million children and adults under 65 who currently lack health insurance.
The GOP megabill also imposes nationwide work requirements on Medicaid for the first time in the program’s history. Recipients between the ages of 19 and 64 — except for those with disabilities or with dependent children under 14 — will have to prove they are working or in school for 80 hours per month. In states that implemented work requirements under a program from Trump’s first term, enrollment dropped precipitously, including among people who were working or qualified for an exception but struggled to document it.
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Texas Health and Human Services will be responsible for designing and enforcing work requirements that comply with the new federal law.
Before the Senate passed the bill this week, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said in a floor speech that the work requirements would strengthen Medicaid for its intended recipients — children, the disabled and pregnant women.
“It’s not fair to the taxpayer to have them subsidize people sitting on the couch playing video games all day when they can contribute to their community and their family,” he said.
Texas Democrats have homed in on Medicaid cuts as the most devastating portion of the bill.
“You’re talking about a health care disaster that is going to take place — not just in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, but in every major metropolitan area in the state,” said Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth. “When you add that on top of the rural hospitals that are going to close and the smaller areas in Texas, it’s going to create a health care nightmare scenario.”
SNAP
The Republican bill also includes deep cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, previously known as food stamps.
But the size of Texas’ SNAP cut is up in the air, dependent on how often the state errs in over- or underpaying benefit recipients.
Under the bill, states will have to cover a portion of SNAP benefits — which are currently paid for by the federal government in full — based on the percentage of erroneous payments made. States with an error rate under 6% will not have to share the cost, while states above that will be on the hook for escalating costs tied to their error rate.
Texas logged an error rate of 8.3% in fiscal 2024 — meaning that, had the law been in place, the state would have been responsible for 10% of the cost of SNAP benefits, or $716 million per year, according to the North Texas Food Bank.
The SNAP benefit cut is scheduled to kick in in fiscal 2028, unless Texas’ error rate falls under 6 percent. States with the highest rates of over- or underpayments — anything above 13.3% can delay the onset of the cost sharing, a last-minute provision included to win the support of Sen. Lisa Murowski, R-Alaska
In addition, Texas will now need to pay for 75% of the administrative cost of running the SNAP program, up from the current 50% rate. Feeding Texas, the statewide network of food banks, estimates that the new arrangement will cost the state $89.5 million annually.
Republicans also tightened SNAP work requirements in the bill. Previously, recipients over age 52 and those with children under 18 in their house were exempted from having to meet such requirements. Now, able-bodied Texans between the ages of 52 and 65 and those with children over 14 must prove they are working at least 80 hours per month to qualify for benefits.
Immigration and the border
Among the top priorities for Texas members was securing money to reimburse the state for the billions it spent on immigration enforcement along the southern border under the Biden administration. That money is now poised to flow to Texas after making it into the bill’s final draft.
Gov. Greg Abbott, who spearheaded the state’s multibillion-dollar border security program known as Operation Lone Star, has been lobbying Trump and lawmakers for federal dollars since Biden left office in January.
Texas’ GOP delegation at first pushed congressional leaders to include $12 billion in reimbursements for states that spent money on border enforcement. Cornyn secured an additional $1.5 billion in the Senate version, upping the available grants to $13.5 billion. The rules for this pot of money ensure that Texas has the largest claim to the funds of any state.
Apart from these grants, GOP lawmakers gave U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement nearly $30 billion to revamp its workforce and equipment, with the goal of speeding the agency’s rate of deportations — a hallmark Trump campaign pledge.
The reconciliation bill also puts billions into new surveillance technology and construction of a wall along the southern border.
Clean energy
The bill rolled back several key provisions of former President Joe Biden’s landmark Inflation Reduction Act, which created tax credits for clean energy projects to spur industry investment.
Those subsidies will be phased out under a provision that reserves the tax credits only for solar and wind projects that are up and running by the end of 2027. Projects that start construction within a year of the law’s enactment — including those that become operational post-2027 — also will remain eligible.
Several Republicans, including U.S. Rep. Chip Roy of Austin, wanted to see the credits abolished immediately. Roy claimed that clean energy cannot reliably power Texas’ grid, as some energy generators, such as solar panels and wind turbines, can only produce electricity in favorable weather conditions. He also said the credits subsidize foreign manufacturers whose renewable energy products dominate the American market.
Clean energy advocates say any cuts are bound to hamper the Texas labor market, as workers on renewable projects could be fired as their employers’ tax incentives disappear. With Texans’ energy demand expected to skyrocket in the next decade, supporters say clean energy could quickly and cheaply fill in the gaps.
Tax cuts
The centerpiece of the Republican megabill is the extension of an array of income tax cuts from the 2017 tax-cut package Trump signed into law during his first term.
Set to expire at the end of the year, the cuts were permanently enshrined in the bill, allowing most Americans to continue benefiting.
Republicans on the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee estimate that a family of four earning the median income in Texas — $75,780 — would have seen its tax bill rise by $1,550 if the 2017 cuts had expired and tax rates had reverted to their Obama-era levels.
Independent analyses of the bill have found that its benefits will mostly flow to the wealthy, while tax savings for the lowest earners will be largely offset by benefit cuts.
A state-by-state analysis by the Institute of Taxation and Economic Policy, a left-leaning think tank, found that the top 1% of Texans — or those making over $806,800 — will see the biggest share of the tax cuts. Those top earners will save 3.4%, or an average of $114,680 per year, on their federal income tax due to the passage of the bill.
The richest Texans will receive a larger average tax cut than their top one percent counterparts in all but two other states, according to the ITEP analysis.
Though the bill’s tax-cut provisions largely focused on preserving existing cuts, Republicans also created a host of new temporary tax relief programs aimed at workers and seniors. Texans who work in roles that traditionally receive tips will get to claim a deduction of up to $25,000 — a priority of Sen. Ted Cruz — through 2028. Those earning overtime can deduct up to $12,500 through the same time period, with lesser deductions for high earners.
And seniors can add $6,000 to their standard deduction, also through the 2028 tax year.
Trump accounts
Born out of a late-night poker game last year, Cruz championed the idea of “Trump accounts,” a provision included in the bill that will seed $1,000 in a tax-deferred investment account for nearly every child born in America in 2025 and beyond. As each recipient ages into adulthood, family, friends and nonprofits will be able to contribute up to $5,000 annually. Once they reach 18, the beneficiaries will be able to access half the funds for limited purposes — such as educational expenses, starting a small business or placing a down payment on a home. They can withdraw the rest once they reach age 31.
To accrue wealth, the account will be pegged to a broad stock index that has yet to be determined. Assuming an average market growth of 7% per year, the accounts will be worth anywhere from $3,500 to $170,000 after 18 years, depending on yearly contribution amounts.
Children born between 2025 and 2028 will be automatically enrolled in the program via their parents’ tax returns as part of the initiative’s pilot program. It is set to cost about $3 billion a year.
Cruz views the new accounts as a way to sell the next generation of American children on the free-market system.
“It gives every kid some skin in the game,” he said in an interview with The Texas Tribune earlier this month.
Pell Grant program
The megabill narrowly avoided cuts to the Pell Grant that would have devastated nearly half a million Texas students who depend on the aid to pay for college.
The House initially proposed stricter requirements to qualify for the Pell Grant, which helps cover costs for low-income students and is the largest source of grant aid in Texas. Students would have had to take more college credits each semester to get the full award, and students who are enrolled less than half-time would have lost access to the aid entirely.
In the end, the Senate stripped those changes after college access advocates sounded alarms about the educational barriers they would have raised.
The bill does prevent students from qualifying for the Pell Grant if their college already covers the full cost of their tuition. That will affect so-called “promise” programs across Texas that provide aid after Pell dollars kick in.
Republicans on Capitol Hill also extended Pell Grants to short-term workforce training programs, which can last just eight to 15 weeks. Some GOP members tried to make unaccredited training programs eligible for the aid, but the proposal was quashed by the Senate parliamentarian.
Incentives for K-12 scholarships
The legislation also includes one of Cruz’s priorities: annual tax credits for people who donate to nonprofits that give scholarships to elementary and secondary school students — a framework supporters call “school choice” and that is similar to private school vouchers.
To comply with Senate parliamentary rules, Cruz’s original proposal was scaled back so it could pass the chamber with a simple majority rather than the typical 60-vote threshold needed to overcome a filibuster.
Under the provision, donors will receive a tax break equal to the amount they give to K-12 scholarship-granting organizations, including those that help students pay to attend private schools. The credit will max out at $1,700 annually, down from an earlier cap of 10% of the donor’s income, and states will get to opt in, meaning Democratic-controlled states could decline to participate.
This caveat, which was added in Senate negotiations, almost certainly sets the stage for another round of political fights in states wary of incentivizing private school attendance with public dollars.
Despite the trepidation, Cruz touted the measure repeatedly, calling school choice the “civil rights issue of the 21st century.”
Moving the Space Shuttle Discovery
Another provision secured by Cornyn requires the NASA administrator to consider moving the Space Shuttle Discovery from its current home in Virginia to the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
In 2010, the NASA Authorization Act mandated the four now-retired space shuttles be gifted to cities with ties to their orbital missions. None were allocated to Houston in what Cornyn called a political stunt by the Obama administration.
Given the city’s central role in space exploration and coordinating each of the shuttle flights, Cornyn called Houston “the cornerstone of our nation’s human space exploration program” and said it would right an “egregious wrong” to move the shuttle to Texas.
The senior Texas senator also secured an additional $10 billion in funding to support programs at the Houston space center and more money for the International Space Station and NASA’s Moon and Mars exploration program, known as Artemis.
Disclosure: Feeding Texas has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
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The waterways in Texas Hill Country have carved paths over the centuries through the granite and limestone, shaping the rocky peaks and valleys that make the region so breathtaking.
When too much rain falls for the ground to absorb, it runs downhill, pulled by gravity into streams, creeks and rivers. The rain fills the waterways beyond their banks, and the excess overflows in predictable patterns that follow the terrain.
Governments and waterway managers know what will flood first and who will be threatened when a truly historic rain event takes place.
Several of the camps along the Guadalupe River and its tributaries sustained damage early July 4. Many of them are in areas known to flood.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency maintains a database of flood zones throughout the country. It maps the regulatory floodways — the places that will flood first and are most dangerous — and the areas that will flood in extreme events.
The Guadalupe River flood was a 1-in-100-year event, meaning it has about a 1% chance of happening in any given year. Extreme flooding is happening more frequently as the world warms and the atmosphere is able to hold more moisture.
More than an entire summer’s worth of rain fell in some spots in central Texas in just a few hours early on the Fourth of July, quickly overwhelming dry soils and creating significant flash flooding. Central Texas is currently home to some of the worst drought in the United States and bone-dry soils flood very quickly.
Camp Mystic is a nondenominational Christian summer camp for girls in western Kerr County. The camp is located at a dangerous confluence of the South Fork Guadalupe River and Cypress Creek, where flood waters converged.
Camp Mystic has two sites, both of which overlap with either the floodway or areas the federal government has determined have a 1% or 0.2% annual chance of flooding.
Officials have not shared how many of the Camp Mystic girls perished in the floods. At least 10 girls and one counselor remain missing as of Sunday evening.
Ten minutes north on the South Fork is Camp La Junta, a boys camp. Some of Camp La Junta’s property also coincides with areas known to flood, though several of its buildings are located in the lower-risk zone, or outside the flood zones entirely.
Wyndham Etheridge, a 14-year-old at Camp La Junta in Hunt, Texas, told CNN’s Fredricka Whitfield he woke up to people from all over the camp coming to “seek refuge” at his cabin. They stayed there, fearing the strong floodwaters could sweep them away.
As the water rose, they climbed into the loft of their cabin to escape, but it wasn’t safe, Etheridge said. “So at some point we just decided … we could go to bed for a little bit, but then we woke up again to more water,” he said.
Etheridge’s parents were among the lucky who received word that their child was safe and could be picked up. “All those boys were pretty traumatized,” said Amy Etheridge, Wyndham’s mother.
Everyone at Camp La Junta has been safe and accounted for, the camp announced Friday.
Cierra Ortega’s parents have seen the messages directed at the Love Island USA Islander and are calling for “compassion” amid the backlash and her exit from the villa.
“As Cierra’s parents, this has been one of the most painful weeks of our lives,” the parents said in a statement posted on Instagram. “We’ve seen the posts, the headlines, the hurt and the hate. And while Cierra hasn’t seen any of it yet, we have. And so have the people who love her.”
The statement continued, “We’re not here to justify or ignore what’s surfaced. We understand why people are upset, and we know accountability matters. But what’s happening online right now has gone far beyond that. The threats. The cruel messages. The attacks on her family, her friends, even her supporters, it’s heartbreaking. It’s uncalled for. And no one deserves that kind of hate, no matter what mistake they’ve made.”
An old social media post Cierra made resurfaced, where she references her eyes, and uses a racial slur that has been used to denigrate the Asian community. Since the post went viral, Cierra began losing thousands of followers. Before the backlash, Cierra was close to hitting 1M on Instagram, but when Love Island USA fans learned of her using the racial slur, her follower count began to drop, which stands at 683k now.
Cierra’s parents noted that she had not seen anything, as she was still sequestered pending the episode’s release.
“We know our daughter. We know her heart. And when she returns, we believe she’ll face this with honesty, growth, and grace,” the parents added. “While she’ll always be our little girl, she’s also a woman, one who will take responsibility in her own time and her own voice.”
Cierra’s parents ended the statement saying, “Until then, we’re simply asking for compassion. For patience. For basic human decency. Not just for her, but for everyone caught in the middle of this. Thank you to those who’ve continued to show love, even when it’s not easy.”
US President Donald Trump welcomes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House in April
After 21 months of war, there are growing hopes of a new Gaza ceasefire announcement as Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets US President Donald Trump in Washington.
Trump previously told reporters he had been “very firm” with Netanyahu about ending the conflict and that he thought “we’ll have a deal” this week.
“We are working to achieve the deal that has been discussed, under the conditions we have agreed,” the veteran Israeli PM said before boarding his plane. “I believe that the conversation with President Trump can definitely help advance this outcome, which we all hope for.”
Indirect talks between Israel and Hamas on a US-sponsored proposal for a 60-day ceasefire and hostage release deal resumed in Qatar on Sunday evening.
However, it is unclear whether key differences that have consistently held up an agreement can be overcome.
Only cautious optimism is being expressed by weary Palestinians living in dire conditions amid continuing daily Israeli bombardment, and the distressed families of Israeli hostages still held by Hamas.
“I don’t wish for a truce but a complete stop to all war. Frankly, I’m afraid that after 60 days the war would restart again,” says Nabil Abu Dayah, who fled from Beit Lahia in northern Gaza to Gaza City with his children and grandchildren.
“We got so tired of displacement, we got tired of thirst and hunger, from living in tents. When it comes to life’s necessities, we have zero.”
On Saturday evening, large rallies took place urging Israel’s government to seal a deal to return some 50 hostages from Gaza, up to 20 of whom are believed to be alive.
Some relatives questioned why the framework deal would not free all captives immediately.
“How does one survive under such conditions? I’m waiting for Evyatar to return and tell me himself,” said Ilay David, whose younger brother, a musician, was filmed by Hamas in torment as he watched fellow hostages being released earlier this year during the last, two-month-long ceasefire.
“This is the time to save lives. This is the time to rescue the bodies from the threat of disappearance,” Ilay told a crowd in Jerusalem.
“In the rapidly changing reality of the Middle East, this is the moment to sign a comprehensive agreement that will lead to the release of all the hostages, every single one, without exception.”
AFP
The Israeli hostages’ families are urging the US president to broker a deal that secures the release of all of those held in Gaza
Netanyahu is visiting the White House for the third time since Trump returned to power nearly six months ago.
But the leaders will be meeting for the first time since the US joined Israeli attacks on Iranian nuclear sites and then brokered a ceasefire between Israel and Iran.
There is a strong sense that the recent 12-day war has created more favourable circumstances to end the Gaza war.
After months of low popularity ratings, the Israeli PM has been bolstered by broad public support for the Iran offensive and analysts suggest he now has more leverage to agree to a peace deal over the strong objections of his far-right coalition partners, who want Israel to remain in control of Gaza.
Hamas is seen to have been further weakened by the strikes on Iran – a key regional patron – meaning it could also be more amenable to making concessions needed to reach an agreement.
Meanwhile, Trump is keen to move on to other priorities in the Middle East.
These include brokering border talks between Israel and Syria, returning to efforts to normalise relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, and completing unfinished business with Iran, involving possible negotiations on a new nuclear deal.
For months, ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas have been deadlocked over one fundamental difference.
Israel has been ready to commit to a temporary truce to return hostages but not an end to the war. Hamas has demanded a permanent cessation of hostilities in Gaza and a full pullout of Israeli troops.
The latest proposal put to Hamas is said to include guarantees of Washington’s commitment to the deal and to continued talks to reach a lasting ceasefire and the release of all the hostages.
Nothing has been officially announced, but according to media reports the framework would see Hamas hand over 28 hostages – 10 alive and 18 dead – in five stages over 60 days without the troubling handover ceremonies it staged in the last ceasefire.
There would be a large surge in humanitarian aid entering Gaza.
After the return of the first eight living hostages on the first day of the agreement, Israeli forces would withdraw from parts of the north. After one week, the army would leave parts of the south.
On Day 10, Hamas would outline which hostages remain alive and their condition, while Israel would give details about more than 2,000 Gazans arrested during the war who remain in “administrative detention” – a practice which allows the Israeli authorities to hold them without charge or trial.
As seen before, large numbers of Palestinians would be released from Israeli jails in exchange for hostages.
Reuters
The Israeli military’s chief of staff said last week that it was nearing the completion of its war goals
President Trump has described this as the “final” truce proposal and said last week that Israel had accepted “the necessary conditions” to finalise it.
On Friday, Hamas said it had responded in a “positive spirit” but expressed some reservations.
A Palestinian official said sticking points remained over humanitarian aid – with Hamas demanding an immediate end to operations by the controversial Israeli and American-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) and a return to the UN and its partners overseeing all relief efforts.
Hamas is also said to be questioning the timetable for Israeli troop withdrawals and operations of the Rafah crossing between southern Gaza and Egypt.
Netanyahu’s office stated on Saturday that the changes wanted by Hamas were “not acceptable” to Israel.
The prime minister has repeatedly said that Hamas must be disarmed, a demand the Islamist group has so far refused to discuss.
EPA
The humanitarian situation in Gaza is continuing to deteriorate
In Israel, there is growing opposition to the war in Gaza, with more than 20 soldiers killed in the past month, according to the military.
The Israeli military’s chief of staff, Lt Gen Eyal Zamir, said last week that it was nearing the completion of its war goals and signalled that the government must decide whether to move ahead with a deal to bring home hostages or prepare for Israeli forces to re-establish military rule in Gaza.
Polls indicate that two-thirds of Israelis support a ceasefire deal to bring home the hostages.
In Gaza, some residents express fears that the current wave of positivity is being manufactured to ease tensions during Netanyahu’s US trip – rationalising that this happened in May as Trump prepared to visit Arab Gulf states.
The coming days will be critical politically and in humanitarian terms.
The situation in Gaza has continued to deteriorate, with medical staff reporting acute malnutrition among children.
The UN says that with no fuel having entered in over four months, stockpiles are now virtually gone, threatening vital medical care, water supplies and telecommunications.
Israel launched its war in Gaza in retaliation for the Hamas-led attacks on 7 October 2023, which killed about 1,200 people and led to 251 others being taken hostage.
Israeli attacks have since killed more than 57,000 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. The ministry’s figures are quoted by the UN and others as the most reliable source of statistics available on casualties.
