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🤔➡️💰 Why Republicans once staunchly opposed to Trump’s bill changed their minds

🤖 AI Summary

Some 🐘 Republican members of Congress, who initially opposed this bill, eventually changed their stance and voted in favor of it [00:46].

The key reasons for this shift include:

• 👑 Donald Trump’s Influence: 🗣️ Donald Trump demanded that they support the bill, and they complied [00:53]. This highlights a growing “orthodoxy” within the Republican party to align with Trump’s directives, even over traditional commitments like tax cuts ✂️ [01:47].
• 💰 Fiscal Concerns and Medicaid Cuts: Initially, some Republicans, particularly fiscal conservatives, opposed the bill due to its projected addition of $4.1trillionto$6 trillion to the national debt 📈 [01:10]. Moderates were concerned about cuts to Medicaid 🏥 [01:25]. However, these promises of fiscal discipline and not touching Medicaid were ultimately abandoned to pass the bill 💸 [04:00].
• 📍 Individual State Carve-outs: 🐻 Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, for example, initially opposed the bill but changed her vote after securing specific changes that would exempt Alaska from some of the more detrimental cuts, particularly to SNAP benefits and Medicaid coverage [02:03]. This “I get mine” mentality, as described by Longwell, reflects a broader political trend 🗺️ [02:26].
• 😟 Political Pressure and Cowardice: There was significant peer pressure and “browbeating” from figures like Trump and JD Vance [01:34]. Longwell also points to a “quintessential cowardice” among Republicans in the Trump era, driven by fear of Trump voters and a desire to “go along to get along” with colleagues 🤝 [03:12].
• 🎯 Desire to Pass Legislation: Republicans had no other significant legislation on their agenda, and passing this bill was seen as their “one shot” to achieve something 💯 [04:34].

🤔 Longwell believes that voters will likely punish Republicans for this bill in future elections 🗳️, especially given that a significant portion of Republican voters are now low-income and will directly experience the effects of the cuts to healthcare 🚑 [05:03]. She argues that Democrats have a strong message in highlighting how the bill provides tax cuts for the wealthy by cutting healthcare for the poor 💔, while also increasing the national debt 🧾 [05:16].

📚 Book Recommendations

• Political Influence and Power Dynamics:
  • 👑🚫📜2️⃣0️⃣ On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder
  • 😇🧠 The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt
• Fiscal Policy and National Debt:
  • Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy by Thomas Sowell
  • 💰📉➡️📈🗳️ The Deficit Myth: Modern Monetary Theory and the Birth of the People’s Economy by Stephanie Kelton
• Healthcare Policy and Medicaid:
  • The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care by T.R. Reid
  • An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became Big Business and How You Can Take It Back by Elisabeth Rosenthal
• American Politics and Voter Behavior:
  • Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right by Arlie Russell Hochschild
  • 👻🇺🇸⚔️🪽 The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels by Jon Meacham

🐦 Tweet

🤔➡️💰 Why Republicans once staunchly opposed to Trump's bill changed their minds@NewsHour

👹 @realDonaldTrump Demands | 🐕 Republicans Comply | 🫡😰 Cowardice | 💸 Higher Deficits | 🔪 Medicaid | ✂️ SNAP | 🏛️🏷️ @lisamurkowski Sellout | 🇺🇸 Happy 4th 🎆https://t.co/TRUCMK81fA

— Bryan Grounds (@bagrounds) July 5, 2025