Local leaders share warnings, praise for Trump’s “One, Big, Beautiful Bill”

COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO) — After passing in the House, a bill known by President Trump as the “One, Big, Beautiful Bill” is a step closer to being signed into law.

However the document that’s over 1,000 pages long is bringing mixed emotions from local leaders.

According to a White House press release, Trump’s “One, Big, Beautiful Bill” is a once in a generation opportunity to cut spending, lower taxes, and fuel growth in the American economy.

“We will be negotiating that bill, and I’m not happy with certain aspects of it, but I’m thrilled by other aspects of it, that’s the way it goes, it’s the big beautiful bill,” he says, adding, “We’ll have the lowest tax rate we’ve ever had in the history of our country.”

However according to Newsweek, a provision that’s tucked away within the bill seeks to weaken the power of federal courts.

USC Political Science Professor Kirk Randazzo says should the bill pass, it will place America on an authoritarian path.

“Substantively, that provision is really scary, because what it says is that Congress and the presidency are going to try to remove the final guard rails for the abuse of power by making the courts unable to issue contempt citations, which is about the only mechanism the courts have to get parties to listen to their decisions,” Randazzo says.

A spokesperson for the House, Ways, and Means Committee told CNN that the goal of the provision is to stop frivolous lawsuits.

Randazzo believes the provision would be a way for Trump and his administration to simply disregard court orders.

“Since he has taken office, he’s lost over 90% of the lawsuits that have been filed against him and this is not just among Democratic judges, this is also from Republican judges appointed by Trump himself,” he says.

Congressman Jim Clyburn also takes concern with the bill for a different reason.

At a round table discussion Wednesday morning with public health officials and community members, he discussed what he calls negative impacts of the bill as its currently written due to major cuts in Medicaid.

Should the bill pass, Clyburn believes nearly 14 million Americans and around one million South Carolinians could see the elimination of their Medicaid healthcare coverage.

“You just can’t sit, you know I’ll keep you in my thoughts and prayers, no. We need to speak out. We need to act out. You have got to let people know that this is not good — and it is not the right thing to do,” he says.

Elon Musk has also criticized the bill calling it a “massive spending bill.”

However, Governor Henry McMaster agrees with President Trump saying, “What the president is trying to do is what the American people want. They want a lean, efficient, working government that does what it’s supposed to do and nothing else. So yes, there will be some dislocations but I don’t think they will be permanent. I think the economy is going to roar, as it’s already begun doing, and we’re headed in the right direction under President Trump’s policies.”

Randazzo believes the bill will be voted on in the Senate as early as June.