Core Voters Thrown Under the Bus by Republican Tax Cut Vote

What happened?

The House passed a bill to extend Trump’s 2017 corporate tax cuts after lengthy negotiations delayed by fiscal conservatives. The tax relief, worth  $4.5trillion over 10 years, is half funded by deficits and half by spending cuts, including $1.1 trillion slashed from Medicaid and food stamps. Speaker Johnson secured the narrow GOP majority, marking a tactical win.

Why does this matter?

• Broken promises: Trump repeatedly vowed to protect entitlements like Medicaid, yet the bill directly targets these programs.
• Fiscal duplicity: while touting deficit reduction via DOGE and other means, Republicans rely on a $2.25 trillion deficit increase to finance the bill, undermining budget-balancing pledges.

What’s the caveat?

The bill still needs to pass the Senate where it still faces hurdles. Swing-state senators with a working class base and fiscal hawks (e.g., Maine’s Collins) may block it over entitlement cuts and deficit concerns. Passage is far from guaranteed.