Senate Republicans are ramping up efforts to make President Donald Trump’s major legislation unappealing to voters as the midterm elections approach. They’re looking to counter Trump’s narrative about his so-called “big beautiful bill.”
Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn from Tennessee pointed to a part of Trump’s law that promises to avoid tax increases, which aim to prevent reductions in many Americans’ incomes. In an interview with the Daily Caller News Foundation, she mentioned hearing from constituents who appreciate the tax credit aspect included in the president’s legislative agenda.
Senate Democrats did not back Trump’s bill, and White House Economic Advisory Council estimates suggest that the law could result in a loss of about $7,800 in take-home pay for the average family with two children.
“When I speak with people in Tennessee, they express happiness about this big beautiful bill,” Blackburn noted during her interview. “Just this week, a small business owner shared that since 2017, they’ve been able to hire two new employees thanks to the Trump tax cuts, which have now become permanent.”
Blackburn also criticized Senate Democrats, claiming their proposed reforms to Medicaid would worsen conditions for Americans and potentially lead to thousands of premature deaths.
In reaction to the Democrats’ rhetoric, Senate Majority Leader John Thune downplayed what he described as fear tactics. “This is just part of the Democratic playbook,” he said in a conversation with Martha McCallum from Fox News, emphasizing that this approach had been tried repeatedly.
Thune expressed that many Americans likely support work requirements for those benefiting from Medicaid and food stamps. Nearly 70% of Americans, according to a KFF health policy poll, back such job requirements. The proposed bill mandates that healthy adults without dependents must be employed.
Blackburn, who is part of the Senate committee responsible for drafting the tax section of the bill, secured a new $6,000 tax deduction for seniors and made the child tax credit a permanent amount of $2,200 per child. She, alongside other committee members, has advocated for the long-term continuation of several business tax credits, arguing they would stimulate job growth and domestic manufacturing.
Tennessee Republicans celebrated after successfully removing a controversial moratorium on state and local AI regulations from the Senate’s version of the president’s budget proposal. Blackburn argued that the moratorium would undermine states’ ability to protect citizens from potential AI-related harms in the absence of federal law.
The amendment she proposed to eliminate the moratorium was considered a significant victory against influential tech lobbyists who had pushed for it. The Senate voted overwhelmingly in support, with a tally of 99-1 during an overnight voting session.
“Negotiations faltered due to differing opinions on how to address the moratorium’s language,” Blackburn explained. “So, I concluded that my best course of action was to remove the entire provision and return to the negotiation table to seek a way forward.”
She expressed hope that this incident could serve as a catalyst for advancing federal preemption laws to develop national standards across these various areas.
