The One Big Betrayal in the One Big Beautiful Bill

With Republicans like these, who needs Democrats to destroy the Second Amendment?

July 08, 2025 By Darwin Nercesian, News Field Editor

The One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) fought off a lot of competition for the media’s center stage, from an ongoing conflict in Ukraine to munitions exchanges between Israel and Iran. In doing so, we witnessed significant fatigue in America’s patience with out-of-control government spending on programs that do not benefit the taxpayer. Additionally, the reconciliation bill was an opportunity to correct course on the National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA), an unconstitutional infringement upon gun rights hidden in the tax code almost a century ago when lawmakers knew that treating it any other way would trigger a violation of the Second Amendment, a caution thrown to the wind in today’s political cesspool. As such, conservatives gathered the fruit of grassroots efforts to champion the Hearing Protection Act (HPA) and the Stop Harassing Owners of Rifles Today (SHORT) Act, but it seems we’ll have to postpone the rewards of that harvest for a later date, if ever, thanks to the telling inaction and betrayal by Vice President JD Vance and Senate Majority Leader John Thune.

The HPA, in its entirety, survived the House Ways and Means Committee with language that removed firearm silencers completely from NFA regulation; however, continued phone calls and emails urging Representatives to stand firm for the voice of their constituents ultimately resulted in the Senate adding the SHORT Act to the OBBB, effectively removing short barreled rifle (SBR), Short Barreled Shotgun (SBS), and any other weapon (AOW), from the definitions of firearms regulated under the almost century-old draconian gun regulation.

One final step remained before sending the bill to the President’s desk, the “Byrd Bath,” a reference to the process whereby the Senate Parliamentarian reviews a reconciliation bill to ensure compliance with the Byrd Rule. Named after the late Senator Robert Byrd, this rule restricts what can be included in reconciliation bills, ensuring they primarily address budgetary matters rather than extraneous provisions. Unfortunately, the current parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, a Democrat appointed by Harry Reid in 2012, does not shy away from corrupt partisan activism, treating the position as one of an unelected saboteur.

The checks and balances of the process are where Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Vice President JD Vance become a factor. The parliamentarian serves at the pleasure of the Majority Leader, meaning Thune could have overruled or fired McDonough at any time. This is precisely what conservatives and their Representatives ended up begging him to do as she ripped and slashed key provisions from the OBBB in a manner unjustifiable by the rules of her duty.

Second Amendment supporters who stayed up past midnight on June 27 had the distinct displeasure of witnessing the writing on the wall come to fruition, as McDonough stripped both the HPA and the SHORT Act down to a seemingly simple tax reduction, from $200 to $0. I’ll explain the “seemingly” part momentarily. With liberty and the Constitution under attack once again, Thune should have been poised to intervene and rescue the provisions by exercising his authority over the unhinged parliamentarian, but that would prove too onerous an effort, as the Majority Leader was occupied by the heavy lifting one might associate with throwing your own people under a bus.

You see, Thune telegraphed his betrayal only a day earlier, telling the media he would not move to overrule MacDonough’s partisan obstruction, much to the chagrin of real conservatives and their Representatives who spoke out against what was looking more and more like a pre-determined demolition of the bill, one that has become harder to conceal from a population far too accustomed with America’s two party political theater.

“How is it that an unelected swamp bureaucrat, who was appointed by Harry Reid over a decade ago, gets to decide what can and cannot go in President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill? The Senate Parliamentarian is not elected. She is not accountable to the American people. Yet she holds veto power over legislation supported by millions of voters. It is time for our elected leaders to take back control. @JDVance should overrule the Parliamentarian and let the will of the people, not some staffer hiding behind Senate procedure, determine the future of this country,” Representative Greg Steube of Florida wrote on X.

Unsatisfied, I wanted to experience perfidiousness from the horse’s mouth, so I contacted Thune’s communications staff to express my thoughts on the Majority Leader’s departure from the Republican Party to join the left, a logical conclusion of his behavior, wrapped in satirical language. I received the following response from Ryan Wrasse.

“Darwin, I have no idea where you heard this nonsense, but no, the Senate Republican leader is absolutely not leaving the Republican Party. That is absurd. And you can quote me on that.”

Realizing that perhaps the mockery of my tone may require further clarity, I responded:

“My apologies, Ryan,

I did not hear this anywhere, however, it is apparent in the Senator’s position not to dismiss the partisan parliamentarian’s gutting of the BBB. Of course, it is a free country, and the Senator can call himself whatever he likes, but we will be reporting it as it is. I have begun contacting the state legislature to campaign for censure and will make sure that South Dakota voters know which way he went on this so that they may make a more informed choice next election.

I am a conservative and a Constitutionalist, not MAGA or any other type of sycophant beholden to any one politician, despite popularity. I praise the President when he does something good, and I criticize him when he does not. Things he has said in the past have no bearing on this subject or article.

On a personal note, because I care more about the country and the Constitution than I do about writing articles, I think it’s time to take the temperature in the room before spouting off about what is to be dignified and what is not. If the Senator wishes to engage his base successfully, a quick review of public opinion is in order, as it seems he is more likely now to gain favor from Democratic voters than Republicans, but that doesn’t mean those leftist voters will find him favorable enough to win an election. Just ask Liz Cheney.”

Thune kept his word to the media, at the expense of his oath, to those who elected him in South Dakota, and conservatives across the country, counting on him to preserve and defend their rights, a betrayal that I urge all South Dakotans to remember in the next election when it comes time to send this backstabber to the unemployment line.

Thankfully, we had Vice President JD Vance waiting in the wings to represent his own election assurances to the American people, including the Commander-in-Chief’s firmly articulated stance on and support for the Second Amendment. Now, wait for it…

Crickets…

JD showed up in the Senate on the day of, provided his tie-breaking vote necessary to advance the OBBB to House confirmation, and performed an astonishingly crass about-face, showing his back to gun owners and conservatives across the country. He did not overrule the parliamentarian, leaving the full HPA and SHORT Act subject to the necessity of sixty votes, a number that Republicans did not have, rather than restoring the language and requiring only a simple majority of fifty-one votes, as per the reconciliation process. While the Vice President is his own person, his partnership with and extension of the administration is undeniable, a dynamic that reverberated through me like a solid shot to the stomach, as it meant that the issue was not worthy of a Presidential order to intervene. For any American who has not pledged their loyalty to a politician over our Founding principles, the ipso facto here is that perhaps President Trump is not as supportive of the Second Amendment right now as he was when he needed our votes. Welcome to the Potomac two-step, or is it two-face?

With the OBBB headed back to the House for confirmation, I am compelled to highlight the work of real conservatives who fought to restore the full provisions of the HPA and the SHORT Act back to the bill, especially the efforts of Georgia Representative Andrew Clyde, who fought tooth and nail to the very end, enduring ridicule-laced hyperbole and petulant attacks from across the aisle until it was apparent that restoring this dignity to government reverence for the Bill of Rights was dead on arrival. With the OBBB moving forward like the neutered carcass it had become, President Trump got his wish, a symbolic signing on Independence Day, an important holiday that would have never been if not for American gun owners of the 1700s. I suppose the lesson here is never to let cruel irony get in the way of a narcissistic desire for optics over justice.

What did we ultimately get?

Rather than freedom and our inalienable rights recognized by the Constitution, Americans have been asked to celebrate a consolation prize, with the financial portion struck from the tax code while the government’s illegal registry is set to live on in infamy. I certainly hope that, like Thune, JD will feel just as celebratory with a consolation prize come next election, and I’m already nudging alternatives to step up and primary both of these turncoats into political irrelevance. Andrew Clyde?

“As an ardent defender of our Second Amendment liberties, I’ve also fought to use this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to restore our constitutional freedoms through budget reconciliation. While the current bill removes NFA taxes on suppressors and short-barreled firearms, it falls short of eliminating the registration of the tax because the unelected Senate parliamentarian erroneously deemed the provision violated the Byrd Rule.

That’s why I offered a commonsense amendment to repeal the NFA registration for suppressors and short-barreled firearms. Unfortunately, my pro-2A amendment was not made in order — meaning it never received a vote in committee or on the House floor,” Clyde said on X.

Far from being over, gun owners will remember those who had the opportunity to dismantle one of the most significant infringements on their rights here, but didn’t. Remember when I said I’d address the “seemingly” part of a simple tax reduction? Here it is.

In 1937, the Supreme Court ruling in Sonzinsky v. United States narrowly upheld the NFA as a valid exercise of Congress's taxing power, and therefore not a violation of the Second Amendment since it is part of the tax code rather than regulatory law. While the High Court was correct in recognizing the statute as having been hidden in the tax code, the decision was flawed, intentionally in my opinion, as abuse of taxation powers to suppress fundamental rights is expressly forbidden by the Constitution. Could you imagine the outrage if we taxed certain types of speech or religious worship? How about a tax that, if unpaid, revokes your right to due process, a speedy and public trial, the right to counsel, and the right to confront witnesses?

But I digress. The government, without outright admission of corruption, cannot have it both ways. If, as the Supreme Court has ruled, the issue of NFA regulation is strictly one of taxation, then it is a matter that must be addressed in terms of budgetary considerations, making reconciliation the appropriate venue. Odd that the Senate Parliamentarian didn’t get the memo. On the other hand, if no tax exists, then the statute becomes purely regulatory and punitive in its nature. That’s where the “One Big Beautiful Lawsuit” steps in.

I mentioned this is far from being over, didn’t I?

“Gun Owners of America (GOA) and Gun Owners Foundation (GOF), alongside our allies Palmetto State Armory (PSA), the Firearms Regulatory Accountability Coalition (FRAC), Silencer Shop (SS), and B&T USA (B&T), are announcing that we will file a federal lawsuit to dismantle the remaining provisions of the National Firearms Act (NFA) after the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ is signed into law by President Trump and goes into effect,” according to a GOA press release written by Felisha Bull.

In truth, this should apply to the entire NFA, including the remaining taxed provisions covering machine guns and destructive devices and the 1986 Hughes Amendment, but since the OBBB only removed the monetary portions dealing with silencers and short-barreled firearms, it is that lion’s share of the of the law with its jugular exposed.

“GOA’s ‘One Big Beautiful Lawsuit’ will ask the courts to strike down the NFA’s absurd new $0 tax and registration scheme for certain suppressors and firearms with short barrels… In Sonzinsky v. United States (1937), the Court ruled the NFA was permissible under Congress’s taxing power. But once the tax is reduced to $0, the constitutional justification for the law collapses,” the press release continued.

So, where does this leave us?

NFA purchases are unlikely to change until 90 days after the July 4th signing, after which the OBBB provisions will cancel the $200 fee for the tax stamp on silencers and short-barreled firearms. Additionally, the GOA’s One Big Beautiful Lawsuit lawsuit has been filed in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, so watch closely to see if the Trump Department of Justice (DOJ) contests or capitulates to that challenge. That’s right. The lawsuit names the DOJ and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) as defendants, and those defendants serve at the pleasure of the Trump Administration, or dare I say the President himself. This challenge can be over before it even begins, so let’s set aside my disappointment in JD Vance and the President for the time being and introduce a new litmus test. I’m willing to have my inferences proven wrong, especially if they are crushed under the righteous weight of Second Amendment preservation and restoration.

Darwin Nercesian is a long-time gun rights advocate and shooter of targets far, far away. As a News Field Editor at Firearms News, Darwin writes about the Second Amendment, firearms, and related gear. Follow him on Instagram, X, and YouTube @DTOE_Official.