She Voted Yes: One Senator’s Deal, Everyone’s Cost

by SheUnfiltered July 1st 2025

The Big Beautiful Bill is coming for your healthcare, food, and future — unless you act now.

On the Senate floor, the moment hung in silence. Vice President J.D. Vance had already arrived to break a potential tie. Cameras zoomed in. The deciding vote hadn’t been cast yet. And then, with a calm but devastating nod, Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska whispered: “Yes.”

With that single word, the Big Beautiful Bill — a sweeping Republican budget package championed by Donald Trump — passed the Senate. It was the 50th Republican vote, the final domino. The bill, which will likely sail through the House after the July 4 recess, didn’t pass quietly. It passed with deals, carve-outs, and backroom bargains. Murkowski walked away with special Medicaid and SNAP protections for Alaska. The rest of the country? Cut off.

And here’s the kicker: if she had simply voted “No,” none of this would be happening.

---

“Senator Murkowski carved out Alaska exemptions, but left the rest of the country to fend for itself. If she had just voted no, none of this would be necessary.”

— New Republic editorial board

New Republic, July 1, 2025

---

What Is the Big Beautiful Bill?

Don’t be fooled by the name. This is not about beauty or balance. The Big Beautiful Bill (BBB) is a budget reconciliation bill that:

• Permanently extends Trump-era tax cuts for corporations and the ultra-wealthy.

• Adds $2.4 trillion to the national debt over 10 years (CBO Report, June 2025).

• Slashes Medicaid funding by up to $800 billion, ending expansion in some states and imposing strict work requirements.

• Imposes new work requirements for SNAP (food stamps), threatening benefits for an estimated 3 million people.

• Cuts Affordable Care Act subsidies and weakens protections for lower-income households.

• Offers tax breaks to the rich while forcing states to shoulder more of the burden for social safety net programs.

---

“We estimate 2 to 3 million people will be cut off from food assistance within 18 months of this law taking effect.”

— Crystal Goodwin, SNAP Policy Director at Bread for the World

NBC Chicago / AP, June 30, 2025

---

This bill is the clearest expression of a political party more afraid of Donald Trump than they are of public backlash. It’s a statement: feed the rich, starve the rest.

What’s a Budget — and Why This Isn’t Just “Waste, Fraud, and Abuse”

Republicans are spinning this bill as a way to eliminate “waste, fraud, and abuse.” But let’s talk plainly: a budget is a moral document.

It tells us what a country values. A budget matches income (revenue) to expenses (spending). If revenue goes down — say, through giant tax breaks — something else has to give. And despite the myth, there is not enough “waste” in the system to cover the shortfall.

So what gets cut? You. Your mom on dialysis. Your neighbor on SNAP. Your child’s Medicaid-funded therapy. Your local hospital.

This is not about cleaning up corruption. It’s about prioritizing the ultra-rich over everyday Americans.

---

“The average American in the top 1% will get a $30,000 tax cut. The bottom 10%? A loss of $1,600 in support per year.”

— MarketWatch, quoting Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center analysis

MarketWatch, July 2025

---

It Starts NOW

This isn’t one of those bills where we wait years to see the effects. Implementation begins immediately. States have already received guidelines to start adjusting Medicaid and SNAP eligibility.

• Work requirements and eligibility audits can be enforced as soon as late 2025.

• States must submit new plans to the federal government within 60 days of enactment.

• Coverage loss, food insecurity, and case backlogs will start hitting low-income communities within months, not years.

And remember — Alaska is exempt from some of this, thanks to Murkowski’s private deal. But your state probably isn’t.

Why This Matters — Personally

We’re talking about:

• 11.8 million people at risk of losing Medicaid by 2034.

• 3 million losing food assistance within 18 months.

• A transfer of wealth upward, with the top 1% gaining $30,000/year, while the bottom 10% lose up to $1,600 annually.

And for what? For Murkowski to say she “looked out for Alaska.” As if Alaska were an island, immune to the national economy. As if her constituents don’t have family in other states. As if a functioning nation isn’t built on shared sacrifice and shared protection.

What You Need To Do Right Now

If this passes the House — and all signs say it will — you must prepare.

1. Check Your Status

Are you on Medicaid? SNAP? ACA subsidies? You need to know:

• Are you working enough hours?

• Are you documenting your income?

• Do you have the paperwork to prove it?

Start building a compliance file now. The burden of proof is on you.

2. Call Your State Offices

Your state Medicaid and SNAP offices will be ground zero. Ask:

• When do new rules go into effect?

• Will work requirements apply to me?

• Are there exceptions or appeals?

States will be in charge of enforcement — and they are under pressure to cut costs quickly.

3. Make a Noise

Senators and Reps who supported this need to feel the pressure:

• Write your story.

• Call their offices.

• Post on social media.

And if your Representative is undecided in the House? Flood their inbox.

4. Join Forces

Organizations like:

• Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

• Bread for the World

• National Health Law Program

…are already planning legal and grassroots responses. Join their mailing lists. Attend organizing calls. You’re not alone.

5. Plan Financially

Start preparing for coverage gaps. Save what you can. Stock up on prescriptions if possible. Look into local food pantries, mutual aid networks, and community health clinics.

One Vote Did This. But So Can Yours.

Lisa Murkowski didn’t have to sell out America to protect Alaska. If she had voted no, there would be nothing to protect. Instead, she chose to be the deciding vote in a bill that trades away your health, your food, and your future.

Now it’s on us — not just to survive, but to fight back.

Prepare now. Organize now. Speak out now.

Because when a budget attacks the people, silence is complicity.

CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVES IN THE HOUSE

IT STILL HAS TO PASS THERE