Civil rights leaders and Tennessee Democrats are sounding the alarm over President Donald Trump’s sweeping budget legislation (dubbed the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act’) which they say will devastate working families, gut essential services, and hit Black and low-income communities hardest.
Signed into law on July 4, the legislation delivers deep cuts to Medicaid, food assistance programs, student aid, and clean energy tax credits, while delivering trillions in tax breaks to the wealthy and corporations. While Trump hailed the law as an economic breakthrough, critics across the country (and especially in Tennessee) are calling it a historic betrayal.
“This isn’t a budget. It’s a roadmap to devastation,” said Tennessee Senate Democratic Caucus Chair Sen. London Lamar. “It eliminates jobs, drives up energy costs, and leaves more Tennesseans sick, hungry, and without health coverage. It threatens to shutter a quarter of nursing homes and risks closing nine hospitals in Tennessee alone. That’s not just reckless. It’s cruel.”
Among the institutions at risk, researchers have flagged Vanderbilt Wilson County Hospital and eight other medical centers across the state due to proposed Medicaid cuts. A recent analysis also shows that 12 Tennessee nursing homes face elevated risk of closure.
Rep. John Ray Clemmons, chair of the Tennessee House Democratic Caucus, echoed Lamar’s concerns, calling the bill “fiscally reckless” and a gift to the super-rich. “Gov. Lee, Marsha Blackburn, Andy Ogles, and John Rose continue to serve the ultra-wealthy at the expense of hardworking families,” he said. “This law threatens 300,000 Tennesseans’ health care, slashes child care, and cuts thousands of jobs. It puts our economy and our people at risk.”
The impact on Black communities (particularly in Tennessee) has also drawn fierce backlash from civil rights groups like the NAACP, National Urban League, and Black to the Future Action Fund. They argue the law targets essential lifelines such as Medicaid, SNAP, and Pell Grants, which disproportionately serve Black and marginalized communities.
“Make no mistake, this bill is not beautiful. It’s brutal,” said NAACP President Derrick Johnson, who slammed the law for slashing services while increasing the national debt by more than $3 trillion. “This kind of policy violence is an assault on everyday Americans.”
The National Urban League noted that 27% of SNAP recipients are Black, and that millions could lose food assistance under the bill. Additionally, the law caps federal student loan borrowing and eliminates deferment options during economic hardship, changes the League warned would “have an especially large impact on Black borrowers,” who already carry a disproportionate share of the nation’s student debt.
Kristin Powell, executive director of the Black to the Future Action Fund, called the legislation “a direct assault on Black communities.” She warned that cuts to health care and food programs will worsen outcomes and “push families closer to hunger and poverty.”
“This bill jeopardizes rural hospitals, eliminates jobs for Black home care workers, and imposes cruel restrictions on education,” Powell said. “It’s greed over good, cruelty over care, and billionaires over Black lives.”
In Tennessee, where rural hospitals and federal support are crucial to sustaining local communities, the bill’s effects are already expected to be far-reaching. Lawmakers have warned of rising premiums for the insured, increased food insecurity, and job losses across industries—including construction, where more than 1.7 million jobs are estimated to be at risk nationally.
The legislation’s passage has sparked a renewed call to action from Democrats and advocacy groups. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has vowed to make the bill a central issue in the 2026 midterm elections. In Tennessee, local leaders are encouraging voters to hold their congressional delegation accountable.
“The Republican Party owns this,” Sen. Lamar said. “They voted for it. They cheered it. And they are directly responsible for gutting the safety nets Tennesseans depend on. We’re going to fight like hell to protect our communities. But voters need to know who’s to blame.”
As organizing efforts ramp up across the state and country, leaders emphasize that the fight is far from over. “Now is the time for unity. Now is the time for organizing,” said Derrick Johnson. “We urge every person who believes in justice to build power at the local level and vote like our futures depend on it, because they do.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
