Fact Check: Does Trump's 'One Big Beautiful Bill' gives POTUS the power to delay or cancel elections?

The House of Representatives passed the 'One Big Beautiful Bill' Act on May 22, which would enact President Donald Trump’s taxation and spending priorities
PUBLISHED MAY 28, 2025
A post claiming that Donald Trump's 'One Big Beautiful Bill' Act contains a provision that allows a US president to delay or cancel elections has made the rounds on social media (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
A post claiming that Donald Trump's 'One Big Beautiful Bill' Act contains a provision that allows a US president to delay or cancel elections has made the rounds on social media (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC: The House of Representatives passed the HR 1 bill, also known as the "One Big Beautiful Bill" Act, on May 22, which would enact President Donald Trump’s taxation and spending priorities. The legislation will now be considered in the Senate, where the Republican majority would apply its changes, The Guardian reported.

Recently, a post claiming that the "One Big Beautiful Bill" Act contains a provision allowing the president to delay or cancel elections has made the rounds on social media. But is there any truth to this? Let us find out below. 

U.S. President Donald Trump walks towards Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House on March 28, 2025 in Washington, DC. Trump is headed to Mar-a-lago in Palm Beach, Florida for the weekend. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump walks towards Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House on March 28, 2025, in Washington, DC (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Claim: Donald Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill' gives POTUS power to delay or cancel elections

Several social media users claimed that the "One Big Beautiful Bill" contained a provision that would allow the president to "delay or cancel elections — legally."

Users on Facebook and Reddit shared the same post on their accounts, which read, "If this passes, we won't have another election." It contained a list of points of what would happen if the Senate passed the "One Big Beautiful Bill" and Trump signed it.

(Lisa Cordell/Facebook)
(Lisa Cordell/Facebook)

The first point on the list read, "He can delay or cancel elections — legally."

Notably, there were many changes inside the bill, which passed the House by just one vote. It has not been passed by the Republican-controlled Senate as of now. The bill also faced major pushback from Democrats.

Fact Check: False, the bill does not contain any such provision

The claims made in the online posts are false, as there are no provisions in the bill that would match the description in the online post, according to fact-checking outlet Snopes.

Moreover, the bill's table of contents gives a brief description of what each section does.

TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA - MAY 01: U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks to graduating students at the Coleman Coliseum at the University of Alabama on May 01, 2025 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Trump's remarks come the day before commencement ceremonies. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump delivers remarks to graduating students at the Coleman Coliseum at the University of Alabama on May 1, 2025, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

For example, Title IV (Energy and Commerce), Subtitle B (Environment), Part 1 (Repeals and Recissions), contains a list of laws the bill will repeal, including Section 42106, "Repeal and rescission relating to funding to address air pollution at schools," Snopes reported.

Similarly, Title IV, Subtitle D (Health), Part 1 (Medicaid), Subpart b ("preventing wasteful spending") includes Section 44125, "Prohibiting Federal Medicaid and CHIP funding for gender transition procedures for minors."

TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA - MAY 01: U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks to graduating students at the Coleman Coliseum at the University of Alabama on May 01, 2025 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Trump's remarks come the day before commencement ceremonies. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump delivers remarks to graduating students at the Coleman Coliseum at the University of Alabama on May 1, 2025, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

However, nothing in the bill's table of contents seemed like it would give the POTUS power to delay or cancel elections.

What Donald Trump's 'One Big Beautiful Bill' would do

Donald Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act after taking office in 2017. It lowered taxes, increased the standard deduction for all taxpayers, and benefited high earners mostly.

However, those provisions will expire after 2025, but the "Big Beautiful Bill" would make them permanent, and increase the standard deduction by $1,000 for individuals, $1,500 for heads of households, and $2,000 for married couples, albeit only through 2028, according to The Guardian.

Donald Trump arrives at a House Republicans Conference meeting at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill on November 13, 2024, in Washington, DC (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Donald Trump arrives at a House Republicans Conference meeting at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill on November 13, 2024, in Washington, DC (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Moreover, the bill creates many new tax exemptions, many of which come from promises Trump made during his campaign in 2024. Taxpayers will now be able to write off income from tips and overtime, and interest on loans for cars assembled in the US.

Similarly, people aged 65 and above will be eligible for an additional deduction of $4,000, provided their adjusted gross income does not exceed $75,000 for single filers or $150,000 for married couples, as per the bill.

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