Nightmare on K Street

A blunt conversation with a Republican and corporate influence insider about why businesses were blindsided by the Big Beautiful Bill, and how “America First” renewables beat wind and solar in the energy tax wars.

Donovan explained how many businesses missed their chance to influence the bill due to a lack of imagination: Indeed, much of the preparatory work for the BBB was done by Republicans last year, before the election, when it wasn’t yet clear that Trump would win a power trifecta in Washington. Photo: Courtesy of Bracewell LLP

Leigh Ann Caldwell

July 6, 2025

In the end, Donald Trump got his Fourth of July signing ceremony, as House and Senate Republicans—despite all their protestations and objections—nearly unanimously fell in line to pass the president’s One Big Beautiful Bill. Yet Washington is still sorting through the details of what Congress actually legislated in this 900-plus-page tax and spending package, and the downstream ramifications for literally scores of industries. One lobbyist told me that the process was so opaque that K Street was largely unable to grasp what was happening.