Texas Representatives react to President Trump's "big, beautiful bill" becoming law
President Trump and Republicans in Congress are celebrating this holiday weekend after both the House and Senate passed what they call the "big, beautiful bill." The President signed the legislation into law at the White House on Friday, July 4.
All Texas Republicans in the House, along with Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, voted for it. Democrats who serve in Congress voted against the measure and called it "one ugly bill."
The new law came after lengthy debates among Republicans in the House and Senate. The law includes $4.5 trillion in tax cuts, which extend and make the existing tax rates and brackets permanent. New provisions include no tax on tips and overtime, which are capped and temporary. The child tax credit increases from $2,000 to $2,200.
There's also a $930 billion cut over a decade to the growth of Medicaid. The Congressional Budget Office estimates nearly 12 million recipients will lose Medicaid coverage by 2034 because they may not comply with new work requirements.
In an interview for Eye On Politics, Republican U.S. Representative Keith Self, of McKinney, said the cuts in growth to Medicaid are necessary to sustain the program for the poor, disabled, and pregnant women. He said Medicaid wasn't designed for able-bodied adults.
"This is a COVID provision that still lingers today. You can cash your government check, play your video games," Self said. "You should be in the economy, working, contributing to the economy, knowing the dignity and the value of work. And yet, some able-bodied adults are on Medicaid, simply cashing their government check when they could be working. That's the majority of what you're talking about there."
Self also told CBS News Texas he's not pleased that there are people who are in the country illegally who are on Medicaid. "The illegals are supposed to come off of Medicaid, but there is also no teeth to the Senate bill. There was teeth in the House bill."
Democrats serving in Congress from Texas participated in a virtual news conference the day before Thursday's vote. Democratic U.S. Representative Jasmine Crockett of Dallas said, "The reason we're fighting against this isn't because it's been proposed by Republicans, but because it's going to bring harm, not only to our constituents but frankly, a lot of that harm is going to be directed to their own constituents."
U.S. Representative Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth, said, "Republicans are putting the needs of Trump in front of their own constituents. This is going to be something I believe that we're going to dig ourselves from underneath for a long time to come."
The legislation also spends $350 billion on border security and national security. It also includes $13.5 billion so states like Texas can be reimbursed for their border security efforts. The CBO estimates deficits will rise by nearly $3.3 trillion over the next ten years, but Republicans dispute that, saying that it doesn't account for the economic growth that will result from the business tax cuts.
Democrats have said they believe this new law will give them an opportunity to win the majority in the 2026 midterm elections.
When asked about that, Self said, "The economy will be the issue. I believe it normally is on most elections. So the results of the big, beautiful bill, if it happens fast, remember that's the mistake they made in 2017, they didn't pass it til December. There was not enough time to impact the midterm elections this time. We've passed it to the President's desk by the 4th of July, six months earlier. So now we hope that the impact of the big, beautiful bill in every aspect has more time to take effect and people will be feeling better about themselves, their pocketbook, their jobs, in generally America as a whole."
