{"id":159788,"date":"2025-07-08T13:34:02","date_gmt":"2025-07-08T18:34:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/?p=159788"},"modified":"2025-07-08T13:45:51","modified_gmt":"2025-07-08T18:45:51","slug":"cronkite-news-republicans-push-one-big-beautiful-bill-through-congress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2025\/07\/08\/cronkite-news-republicans-push-one-big-beautiful-bill-through-congress\/","title":{"rendered":"Cronkite News: Republicans push &#8216;One Big Beautiful Bill&#8217; through Congress"},"content":{"rendered":" <a href=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2025\/07\/08\/cronkite-news-republicans-push-one-big-beautiful-bill-through-congress\/whitehouse-15\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-159865\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1365\" data-attachment-id=\"159865\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2025\/07\/08\/cronkite-news-republicans-push-one-big-beautiful-bill-through-congress\/whitehouse-15\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/08\/whitehouse-2.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2048,1365\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-title=\"White House\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;White House&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Republican lawmakers join President Donald Trump for the signing of H.R.1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, into law on July 4, 2025. Photo: &lt;a href=https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/whitehouse\/54641418076\/&gt;Molly Riley \/ White House&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/08\/whitehouse-2.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/08\/whitehouse-2.jpg\" alt=\"White House\"  class=\"size-full wp-image-159865\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"figure-caption\"> Republican lawmakers join President Donald Trump for the signing of H.R.1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, into law on July 4, 2025. Photo: <a href=https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/whitehouse\/54641418076\/>Molly Riley \/ White House<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n<div class=\"h3-responsive font-weight-bold\">House Republicans send megabill to Trump, setting aside concerns about huge Medicaid cuts and massive deficit impact<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"date\">Tuesday, July 8, 2025<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"byline\">By Ella Anderson<\/div>\r\n<DIV class=source>Cronkite News<\/DIV>\r\n<DIV class=source-website><A \r\nhref=\"https:\/\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org\/\">cronkitenews.azpbs.org<\/A><\/DIV>\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nWASHINGTON &#8212; House Republicans sent President Donald Trump the megabill he has sought last Thursday, shrugging aside a last-ditch Democratic effort to shame them over massive Medicaid cuts and a huge deficit impact.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nOnly two Republicans broke ranks on the \u201cOne Big Beautiful Bill,\u201d which includes huge spending cuts and even bigger tax cuts. [<a href=https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/119th-congress\/house-bill\/1>H.R.1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act<\/a>]\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nAll six Arizona Republicans supported the measure. Both Democrats opposed it.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n\u201cIt\u2019s a bill I\u2019m proud to support,\u201d Rep. Juan Ciscomani, a Tucson Republican, said after the vote.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/embed\/feed\/update\/urn:li:share:7348080120034721794\" height=\"831\" width=\"504\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\" title=\"Embedded post\"><\/iframe>\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nThe bill cuts federal Medicaid spending by $930 billion. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates it will push 12 million people off Medicaid. Other analysts expect it to force many rural health care facilities to close.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nRep. Greg Stanton, a Phoenix Democrat, accused Republicans of \u201cclosing their eyes\u201d to the impact on their constituents \u2014 especially those in rural areas.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n\u201cThey\u2019re going to regret this vote,\u201d he said. \u201cNot just politically, but on a moral level.\u201d\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nCiscomani downplayed concerns about the Medicaid cuts, asserting the changes will strengthen the program\u2019s fiscal viability \u201cand protect it for the people that need it the most.\u201d\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nThe 218-212 vote by bleary-eyed lawmakers came after a grueling all-night debate. [Roll Call: <a href=https:\/\/clerk.house.gov\/Votes\/2025190>Bill Number: H.R.1<\/a>]\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nJust the week prior, Ciscomani was one of 16 Republicans who penned a letter to Senate Majority Leader John Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson, warning that the Senate version \u2014 the one the House finalized without changes \u2014 slashed Medicaid too deeply.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n\u201cProtecting Medicaid is essential for the vulnerable constituents we were elected to represent. Therefore we cannot support a final bill that threatens access to coverage or jeopardizes the stability of our hospitals and providers,\u201d they wrote.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nNew York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic minority leader, called out Ciscomani as he read the letter during a marathon 8 hour, 44 minute floor speech.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nIf they felt so strongly, he said, \u201dThis should be a \u2018hell no\u2019 vote\u201d for them.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83d\udce3 Protect Tribal Funding in the 2026 Federal Budget!<br><br>Congress is considering cuts to critical programs that serve Native communities\u2014including health care, public safety, and education.<br><br>Find your Representative: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/P3WJoq1oGL\">https:\/\/t.co\/P3WJoq1oGL<\/a><br>Template letter: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Ldk2Q58kIR\">https:\/\/t.co\/Ldk2Q58kIR<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/jsOVk1a4I1\">pic.twitter.com\/jsOVk1a4I1<\/a><\/p>&mdash; National Congress of American Indians (@NCAI1944) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NCAI1944\/status\/1940063828902904229?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 1, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nRepublicans touted the bill for delivering the biggest tax cuts in history, ending decades of growth in a costly social safety net, cutting subsidies for green energy and boosting funds for immigration enforcement.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nMore than 2.1 million people are enrolled in Arizona\u2019s Medicaid program, known as the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, including 754,600 children, 194,040 seniors and 172,480 people with disabilities, according to KFF.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nAn analysis from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation released Tuesday found that the impending cuts would drive 234,000 people off Medicaid in Arizona, ranging from 23,000 in the district of Rep. Greg Stanton, D-Phoenix, to 31,000 in the district held by Rep. Eli Crane, R-Oro Valley.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nDemocrats view Crane, Ciscomani and Rep. David Schweikert of Fountain Hills as vulnerable in next year\u2019s midterm elections. All expressed qualms about the megabill but supported it anyway.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n\u201cThey will always prioritize serving Republicans\u2019 billionaire campaign donors at the expense of the children, families and workers they\u2019re supposed to represent,\u201d said Rep. Suzan DelBene of Washington, chair of the Democrats\u2019 House campaign arm.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nThe Congressional Budget Office projects the bill will add $3.3 trillion to the national debt over the next decade. Other estimates top $5 trillion. That\u2019s because it extends the 2017 tax cuts and adds new ones that will also eat into federal revenue \u2014 more than offsetting cuts to green energy subsidies, food stamps, Medicaid and other programs.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nSchweikert, a self-proclaimed deficit hawk who regularly delivers floor speeches railing against federal red ink, was clearly unhappy about the massive new deficit spending.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n\u201cWe need to step back and start having the honest conversation. \u2026 That\u2019s the problem \u2014 we want the sugar high. None of us want the (fiscal) discipline,\u201d he told Cronkite News.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nA short time later, he cast his vote with other Republicans.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n\u201cRep. David Schweikert is doing exactly what he promised: delivering real results, restoring fiscal sanity and fighting for Valley families,\u201d said Ben Petersen, spokesman for the Republican Party\u2019s House campaign arm.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nAsked why he changed his mind, Ciscomani said, \u201cChanged my mind? The bill has a lot of advantages, a lot of benefits.\u201d\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nThe Senate boosted a fund for rural hospitals from $25 billion to $50 billion, though the National Rural Health Association estimates that will only offset two-thirds of cuts.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nThe final bill also delays a cap on taxes that states use to finance their share of the program.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n\u201cThat wasn\u2019t there before. This is completely new,\u201d Ciscomani said. \u201cI\u2019m going to be working hard to bring those funds home.\u201d\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n<div class=\"embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9\">\r\n<div class=\" content_cards_card content_cards_domain_youtu-be\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"content_cards_image\">\n\t\t\t\t<a class=\"content_cards_image_link\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/3pbFrchqNY8\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/07\/maxresdefault-434.jpg\" alt=\"Historic House Floor Speech Delivered by Leader Hakeem Jeffries\">\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t<div class=\"content_cards_title\">\n\t\t<a class=\"content_cards_title_link\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/3pbFrchqNY8\">\n\t\t\tHistoric House Floor Speech Delivered by Leader Hakeem Jeffries\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"content_cards_description\">\n\t\t<a class=\"content_cards_description_link\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/3pbFrchqNY8\">\n\t\t\t<p>Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"content_cards_site_name\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/s\/desktop\/01aaffea\/img\/favicon.ico\" alt=\"YouTube\" class=\"content_cards_favicon\"\/>\t\tYouTube\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York): <a href=https:\/\/youtu.be\/3pbFrchqNY8>Historic House Floor Speech Delivered by Leader Hakeem Jeffries<\/a>\r\n<\/figcaption>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nJeffries\u2019 <a href=https:\/\/youtu.be\/3pbFrchqNY8>marathon speech<\/a> set a new record in the House, which has no filibuster but where party leaders are allowed unlimited floor time.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nAt one point, he read a letter from one of Ciscomani\u2019s constituents, Victoria Fuller from Sierra Vista.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nFuller and her husband served in the Army and both have disabilities from their service. With a modest income from an electrical contracting business, they rely on Medicaid for help with an adopted son with autism, one of their five children.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n\u201cSlashing Medicaid will have especially dire consequences for rural communities like ours, forcing hospitals to close,\u201d Jeffries read from her letter. \u201cHealth resources are already slim in our area. \u2026 President Trump is causing enormous stress and hardship for families like mine. He and his billionaire friends don\u2019t need more tax breaks. It\u2019s outrageous. The last thing we should be considering is cutting Medicaid. These programs are lifelines.\u201d\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n\u201cWe agree with you, Victoria,\u201c Jeffries said.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nNurses and other health care workers gathered outside Ciscomani\u2019s office in Tucson on Tuesday to protest the Medicaid cuts.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nCrane\u2019s district, the biggest in the state, covering all of northeast Arizona, has 275,300 residents on Medicaid \u2014roughly a third of the population.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nOf the five rural hospitals flagged by University of North Carolina researchers as being at risk for closure due to the Medicaid cuts, three are in Crane\u2019s district.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nHe declined repeated attempts to discuss the impacts on his district and its hospitals.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nRep. Paul Gosar\u2019s district has 233,600 Medicaid enrollees.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nThe Bullhead City Republican has been steadfast in his support for the bill and after it passed, he said it would deliver \u201chistoric tax relief to middle-class Americans, reigns in wasteful spending (and) restores fiscal sanity.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nHe also touted a provision that revives a compensation program for uranium workers and people who lived downwind of U.S. nuclear tests.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n\u201cI was always a yes,\u201d he said following the vote. \u201cThere isn\u2019t really any Medicaid cuts.\u201d\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n<div class=\"embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9\">\r\n<div class=\" content_cards_card content_cards_domain_youtu-be\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"content_cards_image\">\n\t\t\t\t<a class=\"content_cards_image_link\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/GCCISUd8sr4\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/07\/maxresdefault-435.jpg\" alt=\"President Trump Signs GOP Tax &amp; Spending Cuts Bill Into Law\">\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t<div class=\"content_cards_title\">\n\t\t<a class=\"content_cards_title_link\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/GCCISUd8sr4\">\n\t\t\tPresident Trump Signs GOP Tax &#038; Spending Cuts Bill Into Law\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"content_cards_description\">\n\t\t<a class=\"content_cards_description_link\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/GCCISUd8sr4\">\n\t\t\t<p>President Donald Trump hosted a signing ceremony at the White House for the GOP tax and spending cuts legislation passed by Congress. Full video here: https:&#8230;<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"content_cards_site_name\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/s\/desktop\/01aaffea\/img\/favicon.ico\" alt=\"YouTube\" class=\"content_cards_favicon\"\/>\t\tYouTube\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">C-SPAN: <a href=https:\/\/youtu.be\/GCCISUd8sr4>President Trump Signs GOP Tax &#038; Spending Cuts Bill Into Law<\/a>\r\n<\/figcaption>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nGov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, wrote to the state\u2019s six GOP lawmakers in Congress on Monday, imploring them to oppose the bill and warning that 220,000 Arizonans would lose Medicaid coverage.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n\u201cAny version of this bill that rips health care away from hundreds of thousands of Arizonans, slashes nutrition assistance for working families, and guts rural hospitals to pay for tax cuts for the already wealthy is unacceptable,\u201d Hobbs wrote.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nThe House approved its version of the megabill on May 22 by a single vote, with two GOP defections. Schweickert missed the predawn vote after falling asleep but said he would have voted with his party.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nSenate Republicans approved a somewhat amended version on Tuesday with three defections. Vice President JD Vance cast a tie breaking vote to send the measure back to the House for final approval.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nHouse Republicans fended off Democratic amendments that would have required another round of negotiations with the Senate.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n<STRONG>For more stories from Cronkite News, visit <A href=\"https:\/\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org\/?utm_source=referral&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=client\">cronkitenews.azpbs.org<\/A>.<\/STRONG>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<HR><EM>Note: This story originally <a href=\"https:\/\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org\/2025\/07\/03\/house-republicans-donald-trump-megabill-medicaid-concerns\/\">appeared on Cronkite News<\/a>.  It  is published via a <A href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/3.0\/\">Creative  Commons license<\/A>. Cronkite News is produced by the <A href=\"https:\/\/cronkite.asu.edu\/\">Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication<\/A> at <A href=\"https:\/\/www.asu.edu\">Arizona State University<\/A>.<\/EM><HR>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Republicans sent President Donald Trump a policy megabill following Democratic objections to Medicaid cuts and an increase in the federal deficit.","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":159865,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[19,1,14],"tags":[5366,42,3144,170,46,4714,94,75,4150,836,3707,48,5092,551,4706,4224,387,4292,34,151,85,91,499],"class_list":["post-159788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-national","category-politics","tag-119th","tag-arizona","tag-cbo","tag-congress","tag-cronkite-news","tag-david-schweikert","tag-democrats","tag-donald-trump","tag-eli-crane","tag-greg-stanton","tag-hakeem-jeffries","tag-house","tag-jd-vance","tag-john-thune","tag-juan-ciscomani","tag-katie-hobbs","tag-medicaid","tag-mike-johnson","tag-new-york","tag-paul-gosar","tag-republicans","tag-senate","tag-taxation","no-wpautop"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcoJ7g-Fze","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/08\/whitehouse-2.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159788"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159788\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":159875,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159788\/revisions\/159875"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}