On July 3, 2025, the GOP-controlled House of Representatives barely passed convicted felon President Donald Trump’s (big but not beautiful..) tax-and-spend bill, after much pressure on the part of Trump and Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson (R-LA). In a valiant attempt to delay the vote, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) held the floor for over 8 ½ hours – breaking a previous record – to outline all the ways in which the bill will hurt millions of Americans.
While Republicans cheered the bill’s passage and signing on July 4th, many of them in both the House and Senate know full well that it is very detrimental to our country. They know the bill’s provisions will greatly harm their own constituents. They have expressed their reticence privately but then reverted to disgraceful cowardice by voting yes: they feared Trump’s wrath and his power to “primary” them in the upcoming 2026 midterms. Heaven forbid they lose their jobs!
Now that the bill is law, with its deleterious effects speeding toward us all, perhaps GOP lawmakers hope that voters will forget that it is they who helped bring this on. We can expect that many will do everything they can to convince their constituents that the bill is actually good for them – including blatantly lying about it – or that they were justified in the end to vote yes. Unfortunately, given the power and influence of social media and other means of producing extreme disinformation, the truth is easily twisted and promulgated with lightning speed. We in the Democracy Coalition have a challenge in the coming months.
Looking on the bright side, Democrats – who voted No as a bloc against the bill – are well aware that, if they can convince Americans negatively affected by the provisions of the bill (which is most of us, unless we are wealthy) that it is Republicans who are to blame, Dems can win in 2026.
Let us look at some of the Republicans who had reservations about the bill and of whom most still, ultimately, voted for it.
The Players
Right-wing GOP Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri (who defeated long-time Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill in 2018) stated that cutting Medicaid would be a red line for him. Hawley has expressed concern that rural hospitals could close, hardworking citizens could lose their benefits. He stated, “Medicaid benefits for people who are working or who are otherwise qualified, I do not want to see them cut.” On these points, he was correct. The cuts to Medicaid in the bill would mean that 10.9 million fewer people would have health care coverage. (The Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, succeeded between 2014 and 2024 in enabling nearly 50 million Americans to be covered. The megabill undoes much of that hard-won success…) How did Hawley vote on the megabill? Yes.
Rep. Nick LaLota of New York was criticizing the Senate’s version of the bill because of language involving the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap. He voted yes.
There was some hope during the bill-passing process that Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski might vote no and sink the legislation. In the end, she made the “agonizing” decision to vote yes, arguing that she had won a few important concessions from fellow Senators. Some changes were to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which she said would allow for “greater flexibility” for Alaska, as well as extra support for rural hospitals and the removal of “a controversial tax on solar and wind energy projects.” 
In addition, she supported the extension of Trump’s 2017 tax cuts. She hoped, in vain, that the House would take its time and fashion a bill that would yield “a better outcome for people in this country.” It was not to be…
Ralph Norman of South Carolina is another GOP House member who was critical of the megabill yet voted yes. Norman, a member of the right-wing House Freedom Caucus, had complaints that are opposite from those of Democrats: he and fellow conservatives criticized the Senate version of the bill over issues having to do with solar and wind generation projects (they don’t like such projects). Then Norman met with Trump and other supporters of the bill, who promised that the green energy tax credits and other conservative priorities, would be “dealt with.” Norman claimed that he and his fellow representatives who had misgivings “got clarification on what’s going to be enforced, … on how the [Inflation Reduction Act’s energy tax credits] were going to be dealt with, [and] on the tax cuts.” Norman “flipped” and voted for the bill. It will be interesting to see what those “clarifications,” out of the mouth of a pathological liar like Trump, end up being.
Another member of the House Freedom Caucus who voiced objections to the Senate version of the bill but still voted for it is Rep. Chip Roy of Texas. He complained about “the large amount it will add to the deficit, the level of Medicaid cuts and the watered-down rollback of green-energy tax credits.”
Another anti-bill voice early on was North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis. He warned that the GOP’s plans for drastic Medicaid cuts would be “a mistake on health care…. It is inescapable this bill will betray the promise Donald Trump made. [It] will hurt people who are eligible and qualified for Medicaid.” While he was one of three GOP Senators who did vote no, he resigned his seat a few days before the vote after Trump castigated him on social media. This is yet another reminder about the power of Trump’s Mob Boss tactics. Tillis’ resignation, however, could be good news for Democrats: winning his seat in the 2026 election may be a long shot, but it’s more possible than it was before. North Carolina is interesting because it manages to elect Democrats at the state level, including Governor, and the conservative Wall Street Journal is already warning about the situation for Trump and the GOP; watch this space.
Rep. David Valadao of California, along with Jeff Van Drew (New Jersey) and Young Kim (California) were leaning “no” on the legislation if the final bill eliminated “vital funding streams our hospitals rely on, including provider taxes and state directed payments, or any provisions that punish expansion states” or because of the Senate’s provision of a new tax on solar and wind projects if a certain percentage of their components come from China. All of these congressmen voted yes.
Rep. Ryan Zinke of Montana served as Trump’s Secretary of the Interior from 2017 to 2019. 
He is no friend of the interior or the environment, as might be expected from a Trump loyalist. Zinke stated firmly that he would vote no on the Senate’s version of the bill because of its provision to mandate the sale of up to 1.2 million acres of public lands. Zinke was also one of 37 signers of a letter on June 10 urging lawmakers to be fiscally responsible: “No net deficit increase relative to current law…Genuine savings only… Growth through balance…” In the end, Zinke voted yes – and the bill is expected to add $3.4 trillion to the deficit over 10 years.
This is just a sampling. Many more Republicans expressed concerns about different aspects of the megabill, knew it would harm their own constituents, and still voted it into law.
Justifying
Now that the deed is done, how, in general, are Republicans justifying the bill? One could argue to some extent “same old, same old.” The conservative line going back at least two generations – the Deep State argument of Steve Bannon and company – is anti-government, using the tired accusations of “out-of-control spending in federal programs” and significant “waste, fraud and abuse.” According to Indiana GOP Rep. Erin Houchin, the megabill ensures that “limited resources are protected for pregnant women, for children, for seniors, for individuals with disabilities.” 
None of these arguments are true – the megabill expands government spending in favor of the very rich and most assuredly does not combat waste, fraud and abuse. As far as protecting the vulnerable, the bill would do the opposite.
In another soundbite meant to demean millions of Americans who rely on Medicaid (through no fault of their own) was the argument of Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (Wyoming) that Medicaid recipients “are not working [and] spend their time watching television and playing video games rather than looking for employment.” The truth is that approximately 68 percent of recipients already work.
Not surprisingly, when Republicans know that their arguments are not gaining traction, they effectively blame the official messengers. When it comes to the megabill, the current target is the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, long relied upon by legislators on both sides of the aisle. The lie being told by the right is that the CBO’s projections about the bill’s disastrous effects are inaccurate.
Warnings
The bottom line is that we must be on the lookout for GOP holdouts, “no” voters and “flippers” who use these well-worn right-wing arguments to try to cover up their earlier warnings about and opposition to the megabill.
Compromise, haggling, changing one’s mind, and convincing others to change theirs are de rigeur in Congress, of course; that is how most of our laws get passed – democracy can be a not-so-beautiful process. 
What is particularly dangerous at this point in time is the colliding of lies with other forces that are moving the US in a regressive, autocratic direction:
- The role of virulent disinformation that reaches millions of Americans in a matter of seconds and the ability of Trump and his cronies to convince people that white is black and down is up.
- The fact that Republicans in both the House and Senate are so beholden to Trump. It is highly unusual for a President to have that much power over his party for so long.
- Trump’s refashioning the executive functions to suit his goals of power and retribution.
- The potentially looming constitutional crisis due to Trump’s relentless pushing of legal boundaries and willingness to defy court decisions. No other President has so blatantly thumbed his nose at legalities and legal precedence.
- Trump’s weaponization of the Department of Justice to serve his ends and punish his purported political enemies (who have not broken any laws). Except for Trump in his first term, no other President has so overtly ordered DOJ to bend to his will.
- The incompetent sycophants in high positions with whom Trump has surrounded himself. They have only won Senate confirmation because of those same Republican lawmakers who demonstrate extreme cowardice at nearly every turn. Incompetence at high levels of government (combined with bowing to an autocrat) is extremely dangerous for our nation.
The American people are taking to the streets in huge numbers to express our disdain for what is being done to us by Republicans (to put it bluntly). At this time in our history, we cannot fall for the cynical narrative that all politicians lie. The right-wing media machine wants us to think that Dems lie at least as much as Republicans, but that’s a smokescreen for the integrity of Democrats when it comes to what they actually do on behalf of Americans, especially when it comes to the economy. The right would also have us believe the lie – and scare tactic – that Democrats are anti-American, socialists, Communists, and/or evil.
We in the Democracy Coalition can be proud of the vast majority of left-leaning officials who have been elected over the decades. They are human and have faults, but scandals and dishonesty among Democrats (especially at the presidential level) are significantly lower than among Republicans.
Let us keep our eyes on how Republicans in office, or as candidates, “spin” Trump’s 2025 megabill to try to convince us that it is the best legislation ever. For the sake of our country, we must call out the lies.