Oh no! Trump’s handouts to the rich are on thin ice

President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill”—which would cut taxes for the rich while at the same time slash health care and food stamp benefits for the poorest Americans—is on the brink of collapse, with multiple House Republicans saying they will not support the budget bill that’s set for a vote on Tuesday night.

The budget—which seeks to partly pay for an extension of the 2017 Trump tax cuts that overwhelmingly benefit the top 1% of earners by cutting hundreds of billions from Medicaid, food stamps, and educational grants—faces opposition from GOP lawmakers on all sides of the political spectrum.

Hard-liners oppose the budget because they correctly point out that it would add to the federal deficit. Those hard-liners want even more cuts to federal spending to pay for Trump’s regressive tax cuts.

“If the Republican budget passes, the deficit gets worse, not better,” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), who plans to vote against the bill, wrote in a post on X.

Meanwhile, less insane Republicans (because let’s face it, there are no moderate GOP lawmakers) are balking at the massive cuts the budget would make to Medicaid and food stamps. 

The budget calls for the House Energy and Commerce Committee to make $880 billion in cuts, which are largely expected to come from Medicaid, the government health care plan that covers more than 72 million low-income Americans. The budget also calls for the House Agriculture Committee to cut $230 billion, which could come largely from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistant Program, better known as food stamps.

A group of eight GOP lawmakers sent a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson on Feb. 19, urging him not to use Medicaid and food stamps as the pay for tax cuts.

“For many families across the country, Medicaid is their only access to healthcare,” Reps. Tony Gonzales, Nicole Malliotakis, Monica De La Cruz, David Valadao, Juan Ciscomani, Rob Bresnahan Jr., James Moylan, and Kimberlyn King-Hinds, wrote in the letter. “Slashing Medicaid would have serious consequences, particularly in rural and predominantly Hispanic communities where hospitals and nursing homes are already struggling to keep their doors open.”

Ultimately, Johnson can afford to lose just one vote and have the budget pass—assuming every lawmaker is in attendance.

And according to Politico, as many as seven GOP lawmakers are publicly voting no or leaning no on the bill.

“I don’t know how you do it without cutting Medicaid seriously,” New Jersey turncoat Republican Rep. Jeff Van Drew told Politico. “And so that’s my concern, and that’s why, at this point, I’m a lean no.”

Democrats, meanwhile, are united in their opposition.

At a House Rules Committee hearing on Monday night, where Republicans advanced the budget to a vote before the full House, Democrats introduced amendments that would prevent the budget from cutting taxes to the richest taxpayers.

But Republicans voted each of those amendments down—even though exempting the richest taxpayers from tax cuts would allow Republicans to cut less from Medicaid and food stamps.

“Every single Republican on the Rules Committee chose more tax giveaways for billionaires over protecting their own constituents on Medicaid,” Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), the top Democrat on the House Rules Committee, wrote in a post on X. “Don’t listen to what they say. Watch how they vote.”

The bill is currently set for a vote at 6:30 PM ET on Tuesday. But if it looks like it won’t pass, Republicans could pull the vote—which would be a massive self-own and a terrible sign for the future of Trump’s legislative agenda.

Ultimately, it looks like Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” is more like one big, beautiful disaster.
 

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