WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham, grilled Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on the implications of President Donald Trump’s tax cut legislation on Alabamians during a Ways and Means hearing Wednesday.
Sewell said she was asking questions on behalf of her constituents about Trump’s One Big Beautiful Act, which will extend tax cuts and cut billions from Medicaid and food aid. She first asked if the bill would add to the national debt, citing the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office’s estimate that it would add $2.4 trillion to the debt over the next decade.
“It remains to be seen,” Bessent said.
Bessent noted that the Congressional Budget Office also estimated the tariff income over the next 10 years would be $2.8 trillion.
“The reality is that I have constituents back home who are really scared,” Sewell said. “They’re scared that prices have gone up. This administration has promised that prices will go down. That absolutely has not occurred for them.”
Sewell also asked the secretary if the tax cuts in the bill, which would boost the standard deduction for individuals and married couples and add new breaks like no tax on overtime, would have a “net benefit” for all Americans.
Bessent said it’s impossible to predict how the bill will impact all Americans, but said “if you’re referring to working people in your district, they should do very well.”
However, Sewell said, “the numbers don’t lie.” Americans making over $1 million a year would receive about $90,000 in tax breaks in 2027 under the bill, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a left-leaning think tank. The center estimates those making less than $50,000 a year would get under $300 in tax cuts in 2027.
“To pay for your bill by kicking people off health insurance and giving them no health care, to me, is immoral and not fair,” Sewell said in reference to the bill cutting billions from Medicaid.
Republicans insist they are only going after “waste, fraud, and abuse” when it comes to Medicaid cuts.
Lastly, Sewell asked Bessent when the country would hit the debt ceiling. The House version of the megabill would increase the debt limit by $4 trillion.
“I know that this big, beautiful bill also means an increase in the debt ceiling, and frankly, I heard you say that that is something that’s an imperative,” Sewell said.
The secretary said the U.S. will hit the debt ceiling sometime in mid to late summer but would not provide any further details.
In that exchange, Bessent said, “You have a very sophisticated constituency to ask questions like this.”
To which Sewell replied, “Just because you’re poor doesn’t mean you’re ignorant.”
While Bessent spared back, “I’m in the habit of saying thank you to compliments,” he said.
Bessent also testified during a Senate Appropriations hearing Wednesday afternoon. Republican leaders have set an informal deadline of passing the budget bill by the July 4 recess.