Tuesday Talkers 7/1: A Debt Bomb Advances Through the Senate
Plus, the Potential Collapse of Conservation Programs, Funding Cuts Harm Food aid Groups and Farmers, Number of the Week, and more...
July is here which means Washington will be bustling with activity as policymakers attempt to tie up loose ends before they head out of town for August. At the top of the agenda this week was the massive reconciliation bill. Today, the Senate passed President Trump’s Big Beautiful bill with an extremely narrow margin. Additionally, everyone is bracing for the president’s sweeping global tariffs as his temporary pause is set to expire soon. The U.S. plans to send letters to countries to assign tariff rates.
Here are a few important updates…
A DEBT BOMB ADVANCES THROUGH THE SENATE
Today the U.S. Senate voted 51-50, with Vice President JD Vance providing the tiebreaking vote, to advance President Trump’s Big Beautiful bill (BBB). The chief point of contention overnight revolved around SNAP benefit cuts proposed in the bill. Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski balked at the impact on her state. The workaround to win her vote shows the worst of Washington horse-trading and Republican hypocrisy. The BBB will set an arbitrary 13% error rate for payments and let any state that is at or ABOVE that error level to maintain their current level of Federal funding for SNAP. Why 13% you might ask? Because that is the error level in Alaska. It also allows 9 other states to maintain their SNAP funding levels for at least a year. This was the price Murkowski was willing to pay to vote for a bill she claims to not even support.
Ultimately what this bill represents is a massive transfer of wealth from middle and working-class Americans to a handful of the wealthiest people on the planet. This transfer of wealth is “paid for” by cutting $936 billion from Medicaid, $285 billion in cuts to SNAP, $170 billion in cuts to Medicare and the Affordable Care Act programs, and $488 billion in cuts to renewable energy programs.
In exchange for these cuts, the BBB will create at least $4 trillion in new unfunded deficit spending over the next decade. With some of the tax cuts set to sunset – a budgetary gimmick on tax cuts that go to working people, timed to coincide with election dates- that number will only grow.
Also included in this bill is a 20-fold increase in the funding levels for Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. So, we can also look forward to a 20-fold increase in the number of masked, unidentified Federal agents snatching the President’s political enemies off the streets without due process.
As this bill creeps closer to becoming law, so too does the threat to the survival of the American experiment in democratic self-governance.
THE POTENTIAL COLLAPSE OF CONSERVATION PROGRAMS
Pausing funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for land conservation programs could have a harmful effect on farmers across the country. According to a new Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy study, nearly 44% off applicants to the USDA’s Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and 55% of applicants to the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) were awarded grants in fiscal year 2024. “These programs provide money to farmers trying to improve their water and air quality, soil health, local wildlife habitat, and mitigate drought impacts on their land.” For a long time, these two programs have been underfunded. However, thanks to substantial program funding from former President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, more farmers have been able to implement conservation projects.
Sadly, this progress in conservation could all be jeopardized as a result of the Trump administration’s freeze on federal spending via an executive order that froze the funding for a few specific grant programs, including EQIP and CSP. Some of the money has been released, but many farmers who were awarded grants still have yet to receive their promised funding. These actions are sending farmers and the larger agriculture community backwards and it’s hard to watch. It’s time for this administration to take a step back and reevaluate these actions that will hurt farmers and their surrounding communities.
FUNDING CUTS ARE HARMING FOOD AID GROUPS AND LOCAL FARMERS
Back in March, the USDA canceled two pandemic-era programs that helped to distribute produce to schools and low-income communities. The administration’s move to cancel these programs was part of their larger plan to overhaul the federal government and reduce fiscal waste. However, the only thing the administration has been successful in is pulling the rug out from under organizations, communities, and individuals across the U.S., including in rural America. The nonprofit Springfield Community Gardens is one of many organizations that has been bulldozed by the cuts. As reported by CBS News, Springfield Community Gardens “provided about $1 billion in funding to schools and food banks to buy food directly from farms, ranchers, and producers.” Additionally, aid groups purchase food from small farms through USDA grants.
The grant programs largely benefited both individual farms in addition to rural communities and urban areas lacking access to healthy food. In fact, more than 8,000 small farms across the country were supported by the programs. Most importantly, the cancelled USDA grant programs helped ensure that critical gaps in food access were filled and local economies were stimulated. It’s clear the food insecurity issue in our country is not going away anytime soon, so we should not be pulling resources that are aimed at improving it. Everyone deserves access to food and Republican policies are making that more difficult than ever.
NUMBER OF THE WEEK
56%: This is the percentage of rural young people who reported receiving online support several times a month.
The results from the research, according to a new study from Hopelab and the Born This Way Foundation, show that rural LGBTQ+ young people are significantly more likely to suffer mental health issues due to the lack of support in the areas they live. Unfortunately, the actions of the Trump administration will be harmful to the rural LGBTQ+ community and perpetuate these issues.
2025 RURAL PROGRESS SUMMIT
This summer you can join One Country Project board members, influential speakers, policy experts, national leaders, and rural advocates for the fourth annual Rural Progress Summit July 8th - 10th. The keynote conversation will feature Sec. Pete Buttigieg in a virtual fireside chat with Sen. Heitkamp. As a former Transportation Secretary and small city mayor, Pete Buttigieg has the ability to speak knowledgeably and clearly on the biggest issues facing our country. The Rural Progress Summit explores ideas and policies that will shape the future of rural America.
Details
What: One Country Project Rural Progress Summit
When: Tuesday, July 8th – Thursday, July 10th, 2025
Where: Online, hosted on Zoom
WHAT WE’RE READING
The Independent: Trump’s ICE Raids on Farms Risk U.S. Food Supply, Economists Warn
Public News Service: Proposed SNAP Cuts Threaten Iowa Families, Food Banks
The Daily Yonder: Rural Communities Lose Out with Shelving of Digital Equity Act
Morning Ag Clips: Trump Says He’s Not Planning to Extend a Pause on Global Tariffs Beyond July 9
CBS News: Senate Begins Marathon Vote Series on Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” as GOP Eyes July 4 Deadline
Santa Maria Times: Trump’s Relief for Farmers Looks Like Control by Fear
River Reporter: ‘It Matters to Us All’: Rural Health Care to Suffer Most from Medicaid Cuts
Washington Monthly: The GOP’s Cruel Budget and the Authoritarianism Behind the “Big Beautiful Bill”
States Newsroom: PA Medicaid recipients fear potentially devastating cuts
The American Prospect: Senate Passes Megabill as Murkowski Stays Bought
Mother Jones: The Cartoonish Cruelty of Trump’s Alligator Alcatraz
Thruthout: By Ruling Against Nationwide Injunctions, SCOTUS Affirms the Imperial Presidency
ProPublica: A “Striking” Trend: After Texas Banned Abortion, More Women Nearly Bled to Death During Miscarriage
The Atlantic: They Didn’t Have to Do This