(NEXSTAR) — Within the several hundreds of pages of the megabill the House passed on Thursday are a $6,000 tax deduction for seniors, no taxes on tips or overtime pay, big changes to student loans, massive Medicaid cuts, and numerous other provisions.
That includes appropriating $40 million for a “Garden of Heroes” to help celebrate America’s upcoming 250th birthday.
What is the ‘Garden of Heroes?’
Earlier this year, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to revive plans he outlined during his first term to have a “National Garden of American Heroes” built.
Under his 2020 executive order, Trump called for the statue garden to be opened by the U.S.’s 250th birthday on July 4, 2026. During a speech at Mount Rushmore in July 2020, Trump suggested that his decision to sign the order came in response to what he described as “cancel culture” by “angry mobs” looking to “wipe out our history, defame our heroes, erase our values, and indoctrinate our children.”
What is a ‘magic minute,’ and why can it last several hours?
These remarks came only months after the killing of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis. At the time, several monuments or statues across the country had become the target of attacks, especially those that honored figures who themselves had supported slavery.
The project never received funding from Congress, however, and the plans were ultimately squashed by then-President Joe Biden in 2021.
Shortly after returning to office in January, Trump reinstated the plans and called for it to be executed “as expeditiously as possible.”
What would the ‘Garden of Heroes’ look like, and where would it be?
Trump’s first executive order about the garden called for “lifelike or realistic statues,” with the possibility of those being donated or loaned “by States, localities, civic organizations, businesses, religious organizations, and individuals,” though the statues may also be commissioned.
According to a commission application by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the life-size statues are to be “made of marble, granite, bronze, copper, or brass.” The listing, which has since closed, award recipients could receive $200,000 per statue, up to $600,000.
EPA places staffers who signed ‘dissent’ letter on leave
A location for the Garden of Heroes hasn’t been released but Trump’s initial order said it should be “of natural beauty” near a major population center. South Dakota Governor Larry Rhoden proposed “a location in the Black Hills in [sight] of Mount Rushmore” for the National Garden of American Heroes.
Who would be honored in the ‘Garden of Heroes?’
Neither Trump’s executive order nor the current version of the megabill outlines exactly who would receive statues in the proposed Garden of Heroes.
The order Trump signed in 2020 does, however, list 244 possible names:
Ansel AdamsHerbert Henry DowBarbara JordanNorman RockwellJohn AdamsKatharine DrexelChief JosephCaesar RodneySamuel AdamsPeter DruckerElia KazanEleanor RooseveltMuhammad AliAmelia EarhartHelen KellerFranklin D. RooseveltLuis Walter AlvarezThomas EdisonJohn F. KennedyTheodore RooseveltSusan B. AnthonyJonathan EdwardsFrancis Scott KeyBetsy RossHannah ArendtAlbert EinsteinCoretta Scott KingBabe RuthLouis ArmstrongDwight D. EisenhowerMartin Luther King, Jr.SacagaweaNeil ArmstrongDuke EllingtonRussell KirkJonas SalkCrispus AttucksRalph Waldo EmersonJeane KirkpatrickJohn Singer SargentJohn James AudubonMedgar EversHenry KnoxAntonin ScaliaLauren BacallDavid FarragutTadeusz KościuszkoNorman SchwarzkopfClara BartonThe Marquis de La FayetteHarper LeeJunípero SerraTodd BeamerMary FieldsPierre Charles L’EnfantElizabeth Ann SetonAlexander Graham BellHenry FordMeriwether LewisRobert Gould ShawRoy BenavidezGeorge FoxAbraham LincolnFulton SheenIngrid BergmanAretha FranklinVince LombardiAlan ShepardIrving BerlinBenjamin FranklinHenry Wadsworth LongfellowFrank SinatraHumphrey BogartMilton FriedmanClare Boothe LuceMargaret Chase SmithDaniel BooneRobert FrostDouglas MacArthurBessie SmithNorman BorlaugGabby GabreskiDolley MadisonElizabeth Cady StantonWilliam BradfordBernardo de GálvezJames MadisonJimmy StewartHerb BrooksLou GehrigGeorge MarshallHarriet Beecher StoweKobe BryantTheodor Seuss GeiselThurgood MarshallGilbert StuartWilliam F. Buckley, Jr.Cass GilbertWilliam MayoAnne SullivanSitting BullRuth Bader GinsburgChrista McAuliffeWilliam Howard TaftFrank CapraJohn GlennWilliam McKinleyMaria TallchiefAndrew CarnegieBarry GoldwaterLouise McManusMaxwell TaylorCharles CarrollSamuel GompersHerman MelvilleTecumsehJohn CarrollAlexander GoodeThomas MertonKateri TekakwithaGeorge Washington CarverCarl GormanGeorge P. MitchellShirley TempleJohnny CashBilly GrahamMaria MitchellNikola TeslaJoshua ChamberlainUlysses S. GrantWilliam “Billy” MitchellJefferson ThomasWhittaker ChambersNellie GraySamuel MorseHenry David ThoreauJohnny “Appleseed” ChapmanNathanael GreeneLucretia MottJim ThorpeRay CharlesWoody GuthrieJohn MuirAugustus ToltonJulia ChildNathan HaleAudie MurphyAlex TrebekGordon Chung-HoonWilliam Frederick “Bull” Halsey, Jr.Edward MurrowHarry S. TrumanWilliam ClarkAlexander HamiltonJohn NeumannSojourner TruthHenry ClayIra HayesAnnie OakleyHarriet TubmanSamuel Clemens (Mark Twain)Hans Christian HegJesse OwensDorothy VaughanRoberto ClementeErnest HemingwayRosa ParksC. T. VivianGrover ClevelandPatrick HenryGeorge S. Patton, Jr.John von NeumannRed CloudCharlton HestonCharles Willson PealeThomas Ustick WalterWilliam F. “Buffalo Bill” CodyAlfred HitchcockWilliam PennSam WaltonNat King ColeBillie HolidayOliver Hazard PerryBooker T. WashingtonSamuel ColtBob HopeJohn J. PershingGeorge WashingtonChristopher ColumbusJohns HopkinsEdgar Allan PoeJohn WashingtonCalvin CoolidgeGrace HopperClark PolingJohn WayneJames Fenimore CooperSam HoustonJohn Russell PopeIda B. Wells-BarnettDavy CrockettWhitney HoustonElvis PresleyPhillis WheatleyBenjamin O. Davis, Jr.Julia Ward HoweJeannette RankinWalt WhitmanMiles DavisEdwin HubbleRonald ReaganLaura Ingalls WilderDorothy DayDaniel InouyeWalter ReedRoger WilliamsJoseph H. De CastroAndrew JacksonWilliam RehnquistJohn WinthropEmily DickinsonRobert H. JacksonPaul RevereFrank Lloyd WrightWalt DisneyMary JacksonHenry Hobson RichardsonOrville WrightWilliam “Wild Bill” DonovanJohn JayHyman RickoverWilbur WrightJimmy DoolittleThomas JeffersonSally RideAlvin C. YorkDesmond DossSteve JobsMatthew RidgwayCy YoungFrederick DouglassKatherine JohnsonJackie RobinsonLorenzo de Zavala
Speaking with the Washington Post after the list was revealed, James Grossman, the executive director of the American Historical Association, described some of the inclusions as “odd,” “probably inappropriate” and “provocative.”
New York Daily News reporter Chris Sommerfeldt also pointed out that Woody Guthrie, a suggested honoree, once wrote lyrics for a song called “Old Man Trump” which was about — and critical of — Trump’s father, Fred Trump, accusing him of stirring up “racial hate,” per lyrics published by the Woody Guthrie Center.
How much will the ‘Garden of Heroes’ cost?
While the megabill that passed through the Senate and awaits final passage in the House appropriates $40 million, the NEH and the National Endowment for the Arts have committed a combined $34 million to create the statue garden.
Trump to host freed American hostage as Hamas weighs 60-day ceasefire
Will Trump’s megabill pass?
Despite House Minority Speaker Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) turning his “magic minute” into remarks lasting more than seven hours on Thursday, Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” is expected to pass through the House and reach the president’s desk.
It has a narrow margin — Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) can lose only three votes, assuming all members are present for the final vote — but the bill is still expected to pass.
The outcome would be a milestone for the president and his party, a longshot effort to compile a long list of GOP priorities into what they call his “one big beautiful bill,” an 800-plus page package. With Democrats unified in opposition, the bill will become a defining measure of Trump’s return to the White House, with the sweep of Republican control of Congress.
Senate passes big changes to student loans in reconciliation bill
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
