Big, Beautiful Backlash

Punchbowl News: “Trump and GOP congressional leaders got the big spectacle they wanted on July 4. A White House signing ceremony for the One Big Beautiful Bill, lots of flags, fireworks, even a B-2 bomber flyover. Speaker Mike Johnson gave Trump the gavel he used to close out the House vote.”

“But now comes the reality — and the headlines back home. Medicaid cuts of nearly $1 trillion. No extension of Obamacare subsidies. Tens of billions of dollars in SNAP cuts. Governors may be forced to call special legislative sessions to deal with gaping holes in their own budgets.”

“While the biggest federal cuts won’t come until after the midterm elections, the negatives for the GOP reconciliation megabill may overwhelm any political boost that Trump and Republicans get from extending and expanding the 2017 Trump tax cuts, at least in the short term. That means vulnerable GOP lawmakers get hit now, with the worst coming later. Republicans will need to turn around public perception of the OBBB, even in their own party.”