Minnesota U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D) is speaking out with her concerns over President Donald Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" and its potential impact, especially when it comes to healthcare access.
Smith, speaking to the WCCO Morning News with Vineeta Sawkar, said it could lead to a substantial reduction in Medicaid coverage, potentially affecting millions of Americans, including a quarter-million of the Minnesotans she represents in Washington.
"And what that means is folks, most of them are working who are struggling to pay their healthcare, it's going to be a huge cost increase for Americans when right now folks are struggling to pay their bills," Smith explained.
On Wednesday, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released a report saying Trump’s big bill in Congress would unleash trillions in tax cuts and slash spending, but also spike deficits by $2.4 trillion over the decade and leave some 10.9 million more people without health insurance, raising the political stakes for the GOP's signature domestic priority.
Smith also voiced apprehension that the bill might increase everyday expenses like food and energy costs, while simultaneously providing tax benefits to the wealthy and corporations.
"This isn't about trimming back waste," she says. "This is about taking away food assistance and healthcare for people that really need it. That's not going to save money in the long run. It's just going to mean that that cost gets shifted to other places like the Minnesota state budget."
Smith says she thinks the administration should prioritize tackling billions in corporate waste, rather than diminishing vital social services for those who need them most.
Republican leaders in Congress, determined to muscle the sweeping package forward, had little to say after the analysis was released by the CBO. GOP senators spent more than an hour at the White House in what they called a robust afternoon discussion with Trump.
“We’re committed to making a law that will make the lives of the American people better,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota said afterward. He vowed to "get this done one way or another.”
But Democrats angling to halt the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, named after the president’s own catchphrase, piled on with relentless opposition.
“In the words of Elon Musk, this bill is a ‘disgusting abomination,’” said Rep. Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, reviving the billionaire former Trump aide’s criticism of the package.
The analysis comes at a crucial moment as Trump is pushing Congress, where Republicans have majority control, to send the final product to his desk to become law by the Fourth of July. The House passed the bill last month by a single vote, but it's now slogging through the Senate, where Republicans want a number of significant changes, including those discussed with Trump.
And the politics are only intensifying.
Musk blindsided Congress with an all-out assault against the bill this week, leaving House Speaker Mike Johnson rushing to do damage control. The GOP speaker said he called Musk to discuss the criticism, but had not heard back. Musk has threatened to use his political apparatus to go after Republicans in the midterm elections.
“I hope he comes around,” Johnson, R-La., told reporters.
Hours later, Musk, whose business interests could be impacted by green energy rollbacks in the bill, implored voters to call their representatives and senators. “Bankrupting America is NOT ok!” he wrote on social media, “KILL the BILL.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.