U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) took one last stand against President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” early on Thursday morning.
Massie and a handful of conservatives have expressed opposition to the massive Trump-backed bill filled with tax breaks and cuts to Medicaid. Massie said in his early morning speech that he wanted to “deliver a dose of reality” to Americans by criticizing the bill for increasing the nation’s deficit.
“This bill dramatically increases deficits in the near term, but promises our government will be fiscally responsible five years from now. Where have we heard that before? How do you bind a future Congress to these promises? This bill is a debt bomb ticking. Congress can do funny math, fantasy math, if it wants, but bond investors don’t,” Massie said, noting that Moody’s downgraded the U.S. credit rating last week.
He went on to say that the authors claim there will be $20 trillion of new debt over the next decade, but he believes it’s closer to $30 trillion. Massie then compared the legislation to the sinking of the Titanic.
“Mr. Speaker, we’re not rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic tonight. We’re putting coal into boiler, and setting a course for the iceberg,” Massie said. “If something is beautiful, you don’t do it after midnight.”
Massie was one of two Republicans who voted “no” on the bill that passed in an early morning vote on Thursday. The bill narrowly cleared the House in a 215-214 vote, with every Democrat opposing it.
Trump lashed out at Massie over his criticism of his “big beautiful bill” earlier this week and called for the Kentucky Republican to lose his seat. Trump has previously called for the Republican to be primary challenged before after he opposed a stopgap bill to keep the government running earlier this year.
“I think he should be voted out of office. And I just don’t think he understands government,” Trump told reporters earlier this week.
The outcome caps an intense time on Capitol Hill, with days of private negotiations and public committee hearings, many happening back-to-back, around-the-clock. Republicans insisted their sprawling 1,000-page-plus package was what voters sent them to Congress — and Trump to the White House — to accomplish. They believe it will be “rocket fuel,” as one put it during debate, for the uneasy U.S. economy.
Trump himself demanded action, visiting House Republicans at Tuesday’s conference meeting and hosting GOP leaders and the holdouts for a lengthy session Wednesday at the White House. Before the vote, the administration warned in a pointed statement that “failure to pass this bill would be the ultimate betrayal.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Stories by Lauren Sforza
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