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Spending cuts proposed in President Donald Trump’s “big beautiful bill” would not be the largest ever, according to nonpartisan analysts.

The largest-cut claim was made by Republican U.S. Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, who represents part of southeastern Wisconsin, ahead of the House vote. His office cited a $1.7 trillion claim made by the Trump administration.

The House-passed version of the bill nominally would have cut $1.6 trillion in spending over 10 years.

But the bill’s net decreases were $1.2 trillion, after taking spending increases into account, and $680 billion after additional interest payments on the debt.

The heaviest spending reductions don’t begin until around 2031, increasing the chances that they could be changed by future legislation.

A $1.7 trillion net cut would be second to a 2011 law that decreased spending by $2 trillion and would be the third-largest cut as a percentage of gross domestic product, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget: House Spending Cuts Would Not Be Largest in History
• Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget: House Reconciliation Bill Barely Slows Spending Growth
• Cato Institute: Senate Big Beautiful Bill: More Growth, More Subsidies, More Debt
• Economic Policy Innovation Center: The Fiscal Effects of the Senate Reconciliation Bill
• The White House: Mythbuster: The One Big Beautiful Bill Cuts Spending, Deficit — and That’s a Fact
• Axios: Deficit hawks hate the latest version of the "big, beautiful bill"

Would Donald Trump’s big bill provide the largest federal spending cut in US history? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.