President Donald Trump is cheering on the GOP’s landmark spending and tax cut bill, as it faces judgment day in the Senate.
‘ONE GREAT BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL, is moving along nicely!’ the president wrote in a social media post hours before the Senate on Monday began to take a slew of votes on the Republican-crafted measure.
The bill, which the president is insisting pass Congress and reach his desk by this Friday, July 4, is stuffed full of Trump’s campaign trail promises and second-term priorities on tax cuts, immigration, defense, energy and the debt limit.
It includes extending his signature 2017 tax cuts and eliminating taxes on tips and overtime pay, providing billions for border security and codifying his controversial immigration crackdown.
However, many of the latest national surveys indicate that Americans are far from thrilled with the measure.
By a 21-point margin, voters questioned in the most recent Fox News national poll opposed the federal budget legislation (38% favored vs. 59% opposed), which passed by the House of Representatives by just one vote last month.
The bill was also underwater in national surveys conducted this month by the Washington Post (minus 19 points), Pew Research (minus 20 points) and Quinnipiac University (minus 26 points).
As Democrats attack the bill, they’re highlighting the GOP’s proposed restructuring of Medicaid — the nearly 60-year-old federal program that provides health coverage to roughly 71 million low-income Americans. Additionally, Senate Republicans increased cuts to Medicaid over what the House passed.
The changes to Medicaid, as well as cuts to food stamps, another one of the nation’s major safety net programs, were drafted in part as an offset to pay for extending Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, which are set to expire later this year. The measure includes a slew of new rules and regulations, including work requirements for many of those seeking Medicaid coverage.
Meanwhile, Republicans criticize Democrats opposing the bill for voting to increase taxes on most Americans.
About half of respondents questioned in the Fox News poll said the bill would hurt their family (49%), while one quarter thought it would help (23%), and another quarter didn’t think it would make a difference (26%).
Sixty percent felt they had a good understanding of what is in the measure, formally known as the One, Big, Beautiful Bill, and while those voters were more likely to favor the legislation than those who are unfamiliar with it, more still think it will hurt rather than help their family (45% vs. 34%).
The latest surveys all indicate a wide partisan divide over the measure.
According to the Fox News poll, which was conducted June 13-16, nearly three-quarters of Republicans (73%) favored the bill, while nearly nine in ten Democrats (89%) and nearly three-quarters of independents (73%) opposed the measure.
Fox News’ Dana Blanton contributed to this report.