U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Fla., says the newly signed One Big Beautiful Bill Act will devastate vulnerable Americans — and warns that its harshest provisions were timed to avoid voter backlash before the 2026 midterms.
“We’re devastated,” the Florida Democrat told AURN News. “Seventeen million people are going to be kicked off of Medicaid. We have millions of families who now are going to be kicked off of SNAP. Our college students now have to take 15 credits. I can go on and on.”
The sweeping legislation — H.R. 1, dubbed the OBBB Act — was signed into law July 4.
It combines tax cuts for individuals and corporations with deep reductions to federal social safety net programs.
Among the most controversial elements are automatic Medicaid disenrollment, stricter food assistance rules, new academic credit minimums for student aid, and spending rollbacks that target veterans, seniors and low-income families.
Cherfilus-McCormick accused House Republicans and the Trump administration of engineering a rapid, late-night debate to avoid public scrutiny.
“In the middle of the night, they tried to make sure the debate was short so the American people wouldn’t hear what really was coming,” she said. “All for them to satisfy this cut so they can give billionaires and rich people a tax cut.”
She also tied the law to Project 2025, a far-right policy agenda backed by Trump allies that she says will remake the federal government along authoritarian lines.
“What we’re watching is the full implementation of Project 2025,” she said. “It really is the devastation of America as we know it.”
While calling for resistance through legal challenges, community town halls and grassroots mobilization, Cherfilus-McCormick also urged Americans to prepare for a long fight — and look ahead to what she called “Project 2026,” a hopeful Democratic roadmap to restore lost protections and dignity after the next election.
She warned that many of the bill’s most severe provisions were deliberately delayed until after 2026.
“They didn’t want to mess up their ability to be elected,” she said. “The American people need to be vigilant. Remember who lied to you. Remember who was always there for you, telling you what was coming.”
