House Republicans successfully passed President Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill” on Thursday morning, culminating an overnight effort that involved committee meetings, strategic discussions, and a final push aided by the president.
Despite the House GOP leadership’s emphasis on party unity as they passed The One Big Beautiful Bill Act by a single vote, Representatives Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Warren Davidson of Ohio, both Republicans, remained steadfast in their apprehensions regarding the national debt crisis, which currently stands at $36 trillion, and ultimately voted against the measure.
Representatives Massie and Davidson articulated their concerns via social media on Thursday, explaining to their constituents their rationale for dissenting from the Republican Party’s position on President Trump’s key legislative priority.
Representative Davidson stated early Thursday morning, before the final vote, “While I love many things in the bill, promising someone else will cut spending in the future does not cut spending. Deficits do matter and this bill grows them now. The only Congress we can control is the one we’re in. Consequently, I cannot support this big deficit plan. NO.” Representative Massie echoed this sentiment shortly thereafter, concurring with Davidson and adding, “if we were serious, we’d be cutting spending now, instead of promising to cut spending years from now.”
During the House floor debate, Representative Massie remarked, “I’d love to stand here and tell the American people, ‘We can cut your taxes and increase spending and everything is going to be just fine.’ But I can’t do that because I’m here to deliver a dose of reality. This bill dramatically increases deficits in the near-term, but promises our government will be fiscally responsible five years from now. Where have we heard that before?” The Kentucky congressman, often seen wearing a national debt clock pin, described the outlook for President Trump’s bill bleakly, even as most Republican holdouts aligned with the final manager’s amendment. “This bill is a debt bomb ticking,” Massie asserted.
When White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was questioned about the dissenting votes of Representatives Massie and Davidson, she indicated that the president believes they should face primary challenges. “I don’t think he likes to see grandstanders in Congress. What’s the alternative? I would ask those members of Congress. Did they want to see a tax hike? Did they want to see our country go bankrupt? That’s the alternative by them trying to vote ‘no.’ The president believes the Republican Party needs to be unified,” Leavitt stated.
Representative Massie, who has previously been labeled a “grandstander” by President Trump during campaigning, even utilized Leavitt’s comments for fundraising purposes, writing on X, “The big beautiful bill has issues. I chose to vote against it because it’s going to blow up our debt. For voting on principle, I now have the President AND his press Secretary campaigning against me from the White House podium. Can you help me by donating?”
Former Representative Bob Good of Virginia, who previously chaired the House Freedom Caucus and has been vocal about the national debt crisis during House negotiations, also weighed in on Thursday, criticizing the legislation. He wrote, “The Big Ugly Truth is that the Big Ugly Bill will push the Big Ugly Debt over $60 trillion.” Good was defeated in the Republican primary last year by now-Representative John McGuire of Virginia, following an endorsement from President Trump.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act is a multitrillion-dollar legislative package intended to advance President Trump’s agenda on various fronts, including taxes, immigration, energy, defense, and the national debt. While the bill aims to reduce the national debt crisis by cutting approximately $1.5 trillion in government spending, the United States currently has a debt exceeding $36 trillion. According to the Treasury Department, the nation has spent $1.05 trillion more than it has collected in the 2025 fiscal year.
David Marcus, a columnist for Fox News Digital, commented on the passage of the bill, stating, “I think the most essential truth in American politics is that nobody actually really cares about the national debt or deficit. It’s too abstract to saturate public sentiment.”
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