The big, the bad and the ugly, even for Alaskans

The Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill, or BBB, is a boon for America’s ultrarich at the expense of the poor and the working class. And with adding $3.4 trillion to the national deficit, this boon for the wealthy could also be at the expense of an economy rattled by Trump’s on-and-off again tariffs.  

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the Republican bill slashes $295 billion from food stamps. Here in Alaska, this would mean that the 63,000 Alaskans enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program  would be at risk of losing a quarter of their benefits if the State of Alaska does not step up to fill the financial gap. The Republican bill also cuts $793 billion from Medicaid. This would result in 279,000 Alaskans (that’s approximately 38 % of our population) being at risk of insufficient health coverage. Jared Kosin, president and CEO of the Alaska Hospital & Healthcare Association, said if Congress makes substantial cuts to Medicaid, “It would be catastrophic, not only for the health care system, [but] for Alaskans across our entire state.” Add in the elimination of renewable energy tax credits, you get a lot ‘ugly’ in this bill that negatively affects Alaskans. 

Oh, but not to worry as those supporting Trump’s push for unfettered development of Alaska’s oil, gas and coal, say Alaska will be better off with BBB. Somehow, high-risk, mega-projects, like oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge — remember no major oil company bid on ANWR under the first Trump administration — and the Alaska liquefied natural gas pipeline will offset the economic harm of slashing Medicaid and upending viable renewable energy projects across the state. 

Adding more substance to the discussion of Alaska LNG is Roger Marks, a former petroleum economist with the state of Alaska, notes, “exporting LNG would not help the U.S. to either revive manufacturing, defend against unfair competition, maintain security, or protect emerging industries.” Marks continues, “The control of Congress may change in 19 months, and the president is gone in four years. No investor will touch a project until they are confident policies will endure over the long term.” In other words, there is no laying down pipe at the end of this year or in the immediate future. As such, the economic harm of the BBB to Alaskans remains real and immediate. 

 While these are disturbing facets of the BBB, there is a lesser-known provision that is the real ‘ugly’.  Republicans snuck in a little noticed but rather important provision into the thousand-page bill that would effectively remove the ability for judges to hold litigants in contempt of the court. The fine print of the bill would require judges to impose a security bond on the litigant even when the lawsuit alleges illegal conduct by the government. Because no ordinary — read, nonbillionaire — citizen or organization could ever afford to pay a bond large enough to challenge the federal government, restraining orders and injunctions on federal actions then become more of a request than a command of the court.

If this buried provision isn’t enough to signal that the intent of this provision is to specifically shield President Trump and members of his administration from the consequences of violating court orders, there is the “prior to enactment” part that seals the deal for them. The ability for courts to punish for contempt is considered essential to the administration of justice. 

If Republican senators play by their own rules, this provision should be struck out by the budget reconciliation rules established for a simple majority vote. The rules, recently imposed on Democrats, require that all components in a budget reconciliation bill have a direct effect on federal revenues. Clearly, this provision, intended to protect Trump from the rule of law, does not meet that standard. 

If this provision does make it to the Senate floor, it will be incumbent on our Alaska senators to move to amend and remove this judicial end-run. It’s no surprise that this end-run attempt happens when federal judges are considering whether or not to hold the Trump administration in contempt for violating orders related to deportation of immigrants. 

If this provision becomes law it would be a disaster for our system of checks and balances. It would bring us front and center with the constitutional crisis that’s been looming ever since Trump took office and began challenging Congress for control of the purse. 

The BBB has an ugly way of benefitting the ultrarich at the expense of working households. Even here in Alaska, where there is a high dependency on Medicaid and SNAP, the negative impacts will ripple far and wide. But worse, the Republican bill as currently written contains a constitutional poison pill. If swallowed the constitutional crisis awaits.