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Today, in a party-line 51-50 vote, with a tie-breaking vote from Vice President JD Vance, the Senate narrowly passed the updated One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1). The final vote came after a daylong vote-a-rama, where a record-breaking number of amendments were filed.
The budget reconciliation process allows Senate Republicans to bypass Democratic opposition and advance President Trump’s sweeping tax, immigration, energy, and healthcare agenda with a simple majority, rather than the usual 60-vote threshold.
Notably, thanks to NALC’s efforts, two major attacks on letter carriers that were proposed during the Senate process were ultimately removed from the package.
Increasing the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) contribution rate to 15.6 percent for all postal employees hired after Jan. 1, 2026, and taking back any unspent funds designated for USPS electric vehicles (EVs) and requiring the agent to sell all its EVs and associated infrastructure were removed.
“I would like to thank every letter carrier who contacted their members of Congress to help us win this fight,” NALC President Brian L. Renfroe said. “While the process is not over, this is a major step forward to guaranteeing our retirement benefits stay off the table and the new postal vehicles we desperately need are protected. This victory is a powerful reminder of what’s possible when our union comes together and fights for what is best for every letter carrier.”
During the vote-a-rama, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) introduced an amendment of the idea that had already been shut down: rescinding any unspent funds for USPS EVs. The amendment failed.
Overall, H.R. 1 aims to cut government spending while extending corporate tax breaks. It would make permanent President Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, which are set to expire at the end of the year. The package allocates billions of dollars for border security, immigration enforcement, and defense measures while limiting eligibility and funding for Medicaid, student loan repayments, and clean energy tax credits. The bill is estimated to increase the deficit by $3.3 trillion over 10 years and cost $507.6 billion over the same time.
H.R. 1 now heads back to the House, where the margins are razor thin. Members of the House Freedom Caucus, as well as moderate Republicans, have already expressed reservations about the Senate-passed bill, which includes notable changes from the House version that passed on May 22. These changes include increasing the debt limit by $5 trillion instead of $4 trillion, increasing the state-and-local tax (SALT) deduction cap to $40,000 for five years, instead of permanently, and making permanent several business tax cuts that were temporary in the House bill.
The House is expected to vote on the bill as early as tomorrow to meet President Trump’s July 4 deadline.
NALC will keep letter carriers informed as the process progresses.