Washington – Today Congress is poised to pass the Republicans’ massive budget reconciliation bill. The legislation will then go directly to President Trump for his signature. The House rushed to hold the final vote before an arbitrary July 4 deadline urged by Trump. In addition to eliminating healthcare for an estimated 17 million people, the law will have devastating impacts on food, water, and climate safety and security in the United States – while providing trillions in tax breaks that largely benefit corporations and the wealthiest Americans. Among the harms, this bill will:

• Completely strip Supplemental Nutrition Assistance (SNAP) access for more than 2 million vulnerable Americans. The bill cuts $186 billion, an approximate 20 percent cut – the largest cut to the program in U.S. history. As many as 5 million people, including about 1 million children, live in households that could lose some or all of their hunger and nutrition assistance.
• Mandate more oil and gas sales on public lands and offshore, drastically increasing pollution and climate risks for all Americans.
• Increase subsidies for oil extraction by $14 billion through changes to the 45Q tax credit for carbon capture and utilization, on top of provisions in the bill that create tax loopholes that would allow the carbon capture industry to escape federal income taxes.
• Repeal major clean energy and environmental justice programs, including funding to address air pollution at schools, the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, Climate Pollution Reduction Grants, and Environmental and Climate Justice Block Grants. 
• Create a pay-to-play scheme to fast track environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act. 

In response, Food & Water Watch Executive Director Wenonah Hauter said:

“As we approach Independence Day, Republicans in Congress have passed a budget that is a direct attack on life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness we should be celebrating. This draconian budget will mean more hunger, more premature death from lack of healthcare, and more people’s lives and homes devastated by climate disasters. This is a massive handout to big corporations and billionaires at the expense of ordinary people. Extravagant White House celebrations won’t save the millions of people impacted by this terrible bill.

“Congress acted on Trump’s artificial deadline to get this bill passed by July 4th, but there is nothing patriotic or freeing about this direct attack on American’s safe food, clean water and a livable climate.”