WASHINGTON, DC — A high-stakes battle is happening in Washington, DC over President Donald Trump’s budget bill.
On Tuesday, the Senate passed the megabill with Vice President JD Vance casting the tie-breaking vote. The bill now goes back to the House.
The multi-trillion-dollar legislation would unlock tax cuts and billions of dollars for new air traffic control modernization, plus money for White House priorities.
Democratic House leaders are trying to decide the best path to try and block the legislation.
If you’re wondering what the impact will be on Georgia, it depends on who you ask, and it depends on what the bill will look like after it gets to the House.
Republicans say it’s “big and beautiful.” Democrats say it’s a catastrophe for Georgia.
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Just minutes after the Senate narrowly voted to pass the bill, a tired-looking Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff warned of what this bill could do to Georgia Medicaid recipients, to hospitals and nursing homes, and the state’s renewable energy sector.
“I will be very direct and very frank. This bill is a catastrophe for healthcare in Georgia and for Georgia’s economy,” Ossoff said.
The vote came only after a marathon 27-hour session that saw the GOP majority vote down dozens of Democratic amendments, including ones from Ossoff and Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock.
Democratic Party of Georgia Chair Charlie Bailey said passage of this bill could force at least four rural hospitals in Georgia to close.
“What the Republicans are doing yet again is showing the people of Georgia they don’t care one whit about the working folks in this state,” Bailey said.
In a statement, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp’s office said he supports the bill’s tax cuts: “The governor supports efforts to not only renew those tax cuts but enhance them for Georgia families while also funding border security, public safety, national defense, and pro-job creation measures.”
The bill now heads back to the US House, where Georgia Republican Congressman Buddy Carter promises to push it through.
Carter insists that Democrats’ claims that the bill will gut Medicaid simply are not true.
“It’s not going to be easy. There are concerns in the House, but at the same time, we all recognize how important it is to get this done,” Carter told Channel 2’s Richard Elliot.
Trump says he wants this bill on his desk by Friday, July 4.
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