Dozens were arrested on Capitol Hill on Monday amid demonstrations against the GOP tax and spending megabill full of President Trump’s legislative priorities, including significant cuts to Medicaid and the federal food assistance program.
Capitol Police told The Hill a total of 38 protestors were arrested, including 24 detained at the intersection of First and East Capitol streets northeast and another 14 arrested in the Capitol Rotunda. Those taken into custody were charged with crowding, obstructing and incommoding.
Several organizations, including Repairers of the Breach, promoted the demonstrations as the first of “Moral Mondays” dedicated to railing against the Trump administration’s efforts to cut federal spending and its robust crackdown on illegal immigration.
Those who gathered from the Poor People’s Campaign, an economic justice organization, brought 51 caskets, symbolizing the 51,000 deaths the group has estimated would come if Congress moves forward with its sweeping cuts to health care alone.
“The largest ever cuts to America’s safety net were pushed through the House and the Senate without a single hearing for the people whose lives depend on these programs to testify,” the Rev. William J. Barber II, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign, wrote Monday in a Substack post.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) also joined protestors to hear their stories and speak on the potential impact of Republicans’ spending and tax package.
“An honor to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with @RevDrBarber and @BRepairers to denounce the GOP’s catastrophic tax bill on behalf of tens of millions of Americans who will lose Medicaid, SNAP benefits and other lifeline staples,” Raskin wrote in a post on the social platform X following the gathering Monday.
“Trump’s tactics of disappearing people in America should terrify everyone who still cherishes democracy and freedom,” the Maryland lawmaker added in a later post. “We reject this growing authoritarian assault.”
The arrests come as the Senate pulled an all-nighter vote-a-rama with the goal of moving the legislation — which is not final — forward.
The GOP can only afford to lose three votes in the upper chamber, with the help of Vice President Vance casting a tiebreaking vote. Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) have already signaled they will not vote in favor of the megabill.
If it clears the Senate, it will go back to the House. Lawmakers in the lower chamber have already voiced concerns over the changes made to its version, which was passed in May.
Updated: 10:28 a.m.
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