Donald Trump has signed a long list of major federal laws across his two terms, and the ones with the biggest reach are the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (2025), the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (2017), the CARES Act (2020), the First Step Act (2018), the Laken Riley Act (2025), the USMCA Implementation Act (2020), the VA MISSION Act (2018), the Great American Outdoors Act (2020), and the Right to Try Act (2018). Together, the laws Donald Trump has signed reshape federal taxes, immigration enforcement, criminal sentencing, trade with Mexico and Canada, veterans’ healthcare, public lands funding, and access to experimental drugs.
Here is what each of the major ones actually does.
One Big Beautiful Bill Act (2025)
Signed on July 4, 2025, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (Public Law 119-21) is the signature legislation of Trump’s second term. It combines a permanent tax overhaul, the largest single investment in border enforcement in U.S. history, cuts and new conditions on Medicaid and SNAP, an early end to most clean energy tax credits, and a $5 trillion increase in the federal debt ceiling.
Taxes
The law made the lower individual income tax rates from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent. Without this extension, five of the seven brackets would have jumped back to pre-2018 levels in 2026. The rates stay at 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35%, and 37%.1Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026 The higher standard deduction is permanent too, and the child tax credit rises to $2,500 per qualifying child through 2028.
The state and local tax deduction cap, which had been $10,000, rises to $40,400 for 2026 (half that for married filing separately). The higher cap phases down for taxpayers with modified adjusted gross income above $505,000, but never falls below $10,000, and the expanded limits run through 2029 before reverting.2Congress.gov. H.R.1 – 119th Congress – One Big Beautiful Bill Act
The federal estate and gift tax exemption jumps to $15 million per person starting in 2026, with inflation indexing from 2027 and no sunset date. The 40% rate above the exemption stays, and spousal portability continues.
The Section 199A qualified business income deduction, which lets owners of sole proprietorships, partnerships, and S corporations deduct up to 20% of qualified business income, is now permanent. For certain service professions like law, medicine, and consulting, it still phases out above roughly $203,000 in taxable income for single filers or $406,000 for joint filers.
Two new deductions target hourly workers. Tipped employees can deduct up to $25,000 in qualified tips per year for tax years 2025 through 2028. Workers who earn overtime can deduct the premium portion of that pay, generally the “half” in time-and-a-half, up to $12,500 per year ($25,000 for joint filers). Both phase out above $150,000 in modified AGI ($300,000 joint), and both are available whether you itemize or not.3Internal Revenue Service. Treasury, IRS Provide Guidance for Individuals Who Received Tips or Overtime
Immigration Enforcement
The law directs roughly $47 billion toward border wall construction and over $75 billion total toward enforcement, surveillance, agents, vehicles, facilities, and technology, with most funding available through September 30, 2029. Another $13.5 billion reimburses state and local governments for immigration enforcement costs, and $1 billion goes toward military resources at the border.2Congress.gov. H.R.1 – 119th Congress – One Big Beautiful Bill Act
New fees run throughout the system. Asylum applicants pay a non-waivable $100 filing fee plus $100 for each year their case remains pending. First-time work authorization applications cost $550, renewals at least $275. Anyone apprehended crossing the border without authorization between ports of entry faces a $5,000 civil penalty on top of any criminal consequences. Applications for lawful permanent residence filed in immigration court cost $1,500.
Medicaid and SNAP
Starting October 1, 2026, most non-citizens, including many lawful immigrants, lose Medicaid eligibility unless they are permanent residents, Cuban-Haitian entrants, or nationals of Compact of Free Association countries.2Congress.gov. H.R.1 – 119th Congress – One Big Beautiful Bill Act States must redetermine eligibility every six months instead of annually for certain expansion populations after December 2026, and the law adds community engagement requirements for able-bodied adult enrollees.
For SNAP, work requirements now reach adults ages 55 through 64 without a qualifying disability and parents whose youngest child is 14 or older. Previous exemptions for veterans, people experiencing homelessness, and former foster youth were removed; a new exemption was added for certain Native Americans. States can only waive work requirements where unemployment is at least 10%. Beginning in fiscal year 2028, states start sharing the cost of SNAP benefits based on their payment error rates, and the federal share of state SNAP administrative costs drops from 50% to 25% starting in fiscal year 2027.
Clean Energy Credits and the Debt Ceiling
The law ends most clean energy tax credits from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. The credit for new and previously owned clean vehicles ended for vehicles acquired after September 30, 2025. The residential clean energy credit and the energy-efficient home improvement credit ended for property placed in service after December 31, 2025. Credits for alternative fuel refueling property and energy-efficient commercial buildings expire by mid-2026.4Internal Revenue Service. FAQs for Modification of Energy Credit Sections Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Separately, the law raised the federal debt ceiling by $5 trillion, bringing it to roughly $41.1 trillion.
Laken Riley Act (2025)
Signed on January 29, 2025, the Laken Riley Act was the first law enacted during Trump’s second term. It requires the Department of Homeland Security to detain any non-citizen who is charged with, arrested for, or convicted of burglary, theft, larceny, shoplifting, or assault of a law enforcement officer, plus any crime resulting in death or serious bodily injury. Detention is required regardless of whether the person is on parole, supervised release, or probation.
DHS must issue a detainer for any individual who meets these criteria and take custody if the person is not already held by federal, state, or local authorities. The law amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to make detention mandatory rather than discretionary for these offenses, and the underlying crimes are defined by the laws of the jurisdiction where they occurred. A shoplifting charge in any state now triggers the same federal detention requirement.
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (2017)
Signed in December 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (Public Law 115-97) was the most comprehensive overhaul of the federal tax code in over three decades. Its centerpiece for businesses was replacing the graduated corporate tax structure, which topped out at 35%, with a permanent flat rate of 21%. The corporate Alternative Minimum Tax was entirely repealed.
On the individual side, the law kept seven brackets but lowered rates across most levels, cutting the top rate from 39.6% to 37%. It roughly doubled the standard deduction and eliminated the personal exemption. Those individual provisions were originally set to expire after 2025, and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act made them permanent.
First Step Act (2018)
Signed in December 2018, the First Step Act (Public Law 115-391) reformed federal sentencing and prison conditions. Its most significant provision applied the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 retroactively, correcting the disparity between crack and powder cocaine sentences. By January 2024, over 4,000 people had received sentence reductions as a result.
The law also softened the federal “three strikes” rule. A third qualifying drug offense, which previously triggered a mandatory life sentence, now carries a 25-year mandatory minimum. A second offense dropped from a 20-year minimum to 15 years. An expanded “safety valve” gave federal judges more room to bypass mandatory minimums for certain nonviolent drug offenders.
For inmates focused on rehabilitation, the law created earned time credits. Participation in recidivism reduction programs like vocational training and substance abuse treatment lets eligible inmates earn credits toward earlier placement in halfway houses or home confinement. Inmates convicted of violent crimes, terrorism, espionage, human trafficking, sex offenses, or high-level drug offenses cannot earn time credits toward pre-release custody, though they can still participate in programming for other benefits.5Federal Bureau of Prisons. An Overview of the First Step Act
Right to Try Act (2018)
Signed in May 2018, the Right to Try Act (Public Law 115-176) created a federal pathway for terminally ill patients to access experimental drugs that have completed Phase 1 clinical trials but are not yet FDA-approved. Patients no longer need individual FDA authorization to start treatment. The drug must still be in active development toward approval, and the patient must have exhausted all approved treatment options.
The law shields drug manufacturers and healthcare providers from certain federal liability related to providing these treatments, and manufacturers must file an annual summary of uses with the FDA. One thing the law does not do: require anyone to pay for the drugs. Insurance has no obligation to cover experimental treatments accessed this way, and manufacturers can charge patients the full cost. That financial burden falls on the patient and family.
VA MISSION Act (2018)
Signed in June 2018, the VA MISSION Act (Public Law 115-182) consolidated several fragmented “choice” programs into a single Veterans Community Care Program. If the average drive time to a VA facility exceeds 30 minutes or the wait time exceeds 20 days for primary care and mental health, you qualify to see a private provider at VA expense. For specialty care, the thresholds are a 60-minute drive or a 28-day wait.6Department of Veterans Affairs. Eligibility for Community Care Outside VA Community care is also available when a VA facility does not offer the required service.
The law expanded the Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers, which had been limited to veterans injured after September 11, 2001, to include veterans who served during earlier eras. The program provides monthly stipends and health insurance to family members who provide daily care to seriously disabled veterans.
USMCA Implementation Act (2020)
Signed in January 2020, the USMCA Implementation Act (Public Law 116-113) replaced NAFTA. The most consequential change hit auto manufacturing: to qualify for zero-tariff treatment, 75% of a vehicle’s components must be made within the three member countries, up from 62.5% under NAFTA.7U.S. International Trade Commission. USMCA Automotive Rules of Origin – Economic Impact A labor value requirement adds that 40% to 45% of auto parts must come from workers earning at least $16 per hour.
Unlike NAFTA, USMCA built enforceable labor and environmental standards directly into the agreement, including protections for collective bargaining and provisions covering migratory birds and marine environments. It also prohibited customs duties on electronically transmitted products like software and music, and strengthened intellectual property protections around copyright terms and cross-border trade secret theft.
CARES Act (2020)
Signed in March 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (Public Law 116-136) was the largest single economic rescue package in U.S. history at the time. It sent direct payments of $1,200 per adult ($2,400 for married couples filing jointly) plus $500 per qualifying child, phasing out at 5% of adjusted gross income above $75,000 (single), $112,500 (head of household), or $150,000 (joint).8Congressional Research Service. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act
The Paycheck Protection Program authorized up to $659 billion in forgivable loans for small businesses, nonprofits, the self-employed, and independent contractors. Borrowers could cover up to eight weeks of payroll along with mortgage interest, rent, and utilities. Businesses that maintained their workforce could have the loan fully forgiven.9U.S. Department of the Treasury. Paycheck Protection Program
The law also waived the 10% early withdrawal penalty on retirement plan distributions up to $100,000 for affected individuals, and let them spread the resulting income over three tax years. Employers could defer their share of Social Security payroll taxes through the end of 2020, with half due by December 31, 2021, and the rest by December 31, 2022. A separate employee retention credit gave eligible businesses a refundable payroll tax credit equal to 50% of qualified wages, up to $10,000 per employee.8Congressional Research Service. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act
Great American Outdoors Act (2020)
Signed in August 2020, the Great American Outdoors Act (Public Law 116-152) permanently funded the Land and Water Conservation Fund at $900 million per year.10Bureau of Land Management. Great American Outdoors Act Congress had authorized the fund in 1964 but never guaranteed its annual appropriation, leaving it chronically underfunded. The law made the funding mandatory rather than subject to yearly appropriations, and it created the National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund to address the multi-billion-dollar maintenance backlog at national parks, forests, wildlife refuges, and other public lands.