The House of Representatives passed the One Big Beautiful Act (H.R. 1) in the early morning hours of Thursday May 22, 2025, following a late night of debate. The bill, considered the centerpiece of President Trump’s legislative agenda, passed by a vote of 215-214. The bill extends significant tax cuts and provides hundreds of billions of dollars of increased spending on defense, border security and energy dominance. Cuts to federal employee retirement benefits were significantly tweaked prior to passage. The bill must be considered and passed by the Senate before it can be signed into law.

“As an organization of managers in the federal workforce, FMA supports the underlying goals of this legislation, including national security and other investments in our great country,” FMA National President Craig Carter wrote in a press release. “Our chief concerns lie predominantly with how to pay for it and earned benefits that will be cut if the bill is enacted.”

Carter expressed relief the House eliminated two of the more egregious provisions previously included in the bill cutting federal employees’ earned retirement benefits prior to the final vote. FMA successfully advocated for the removal of the provision to increase pension contributions for all Federal Employees' Retirement System (FERS) employees, and elimination of the proposed annuity calculation change from the High-3 to the High-5.

“These changes were critical, welcome improvements to the bill, as the proposed provisions were broken promises to workers who are currently vested, or at or near retirement age, and a tax on federal employees and annuitants,” Carter wrote. “They would have unfairly shifted the goalposts and eliminated earned benefits for employees who dedicated a career of service to the country. We are pleased these proposals have been removed.”

The elimination of the FERS annuity supplement – which FMA strongly opposes – remains in the bill, however its implementation has been delayed to 2028, rather than upon enactment of the bill.

“We will work to eliminate the provision altogether, as it is a broken promise to current feds, but the delayed implementation is an improvement, and will allow feds who are considering retiring in the next couple of years to better plan their futures,” Carter wrote. “We are concerned the bill introduces barriers to making appeals to the Merit Systems Protection Board. We also continue to oppose the provision forcing new hires to the federal workforce to decide between at-will employment or paying far more for their annuities, and how this will impact recruitment and the future of the civil service.”

On June 4, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reported the bill would raise the federal deficit by $2.4 trillion over the next ten years. This remains a challenge for the legislation, which President Trump and Congressional Republicans hope to have passed and signed by July 4^th.

Elon Musk, who until recently was leading the Department of Government Efficiency, expressed strong criticism of the bill in a series of posts on X, calling the bill a “disgusting abomination.”

Musk called the bill a “massive, outrageous, pork-filled congressional spending bill” and said legislators who voted for it “did wrong.” He continued that the bill would “burden America citizens with crushingly unsustainable debt.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) is working to steer the legislation through the upper chamber – with potentially significant changes to address concerns from Senate Republicans.

“Without getting into the particulars, there are a ton of trade-offs you have to make,” Thune said.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is a “no” vote on the bill as long as the measure increases the debt ceiling. The administration says the country will hit the debt ceiling by mid-July. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) has demanded trillions of additional spending cuts to gain his support, while Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) have been critical about impacts on rural hospitals and changes to Medicaid, respectively.

“We expect the Senate will make further changes to the bill, and FMA will continue to advocate for improvements to the bill as it proceeds through the legislative process,” Carter wrote.

To follow the progress of the bill, click here.