The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (H.R. 1) was Mitch McConnell's signature legislative achievement as Senate Majority Leader. He rammed it through on a party-line reconciliation vote with zero Democratic support and no public hearings.

The law permanently slashed the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%, gave temporary individual rate cuts that expire for most Americans by 2027, repealed the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate, and opened the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.

How It Harmed Americans:

The distribution was lopsided by design. According to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, by 2027, 83% of the benefits flow to the top 1% of earners. Meanwhile, the Congressional Budget Office projects the law will add roughly $1.9 trillion to the national debt.

The repeal of the ACA individual mandate caused an estimated 13 million Americans to lose health insurance coverage and raised premiums by approximately 10%. The $10,000 cap on state and local tax (SALT) deductions disproportionately punished middle-class homeowners in higher-cost states like New York, New Jersey, and California — many of whom ended up paying more in federal taxes, not less.

A 2019 Congressional Research Service analysis found that the corporate rate cut failed to deliver the promised surge in business investment or worker wages. Instead, corporations spent a record $1 trillion on stock buybacks in 2018 alone, enriching shareholders and executives.

Reference List:

Tax Policy Center, "Distributional Analysis of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act" (2017)
Congressional Budget Office, "The Budget and Economic Outlook: 2018–2028" (2018)
Congressional Budget Office, "Repealing the Individual Mandate: An Updated Estimate" (2017)
Congressional Research Service, "The Economic Effects of the 2017 Tax Revision" (2019)
H.R. 1, Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, 115th Congress (2017)