Senate Republicans are quickly shifting into sales mode as they attempt to pitch voters on their mammoth tax and spending bill in the face of an onslaught of Democratic attacks.
Republicans accomplished a herculean lift in getting the “big, beautiful bill” to President Trump’s desk by July 4. But that might be nothing compared to the task of selling a bill that even some within their party expressed deep reservations about — and that some are fretting could have an Affordable Care Act-level impact on the midterms.
That work is kicking off in rapid fashion. The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) sent a memo to chiefs of staff and top communicators for members urging them to move quickly to get the word out, especially during the upcoming monthlong August recess.
“Senate Republicans have delivered on the America First promises President Trump campaigned on. Now, Senators and staff need to do their part to ensure every voter knows it,” the committee’s memo read, pointing to popular items in the bill, such as no taxes on tips and overtime, and a permanent extension of many of the 2017 tax cuts.
“Communicating the widely popular provisions within the OBBB effectively will be essential to turning out the coalition Republicans need to win in next year’s midterm election.”
Some GOP lawmakers fear they are staring down a storm akin to the 2010 cycle after ObamaCare was passed. While the health care law has become popular, the immediate backlash to it saw Democrats lose 63 House seats and Republicans gain six seats in the Senate.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who sent a shock wave into the midterm cycle by announcing he will not run for reelection, raised that alarm even before the vote.
“It’s going to be a challenge,” Tillis, who voted against the legislation, told The Hill on Tuesday, saying that he fully expects the party to face down the same playbook Republicans used against Democrats in 2010. “It was as if the bill had been in place for 10 years by the time we got finished — and it was all in anticipation.”
Most Republicans won’t go as far as Tillis. But they still have worries about both the implementation of the bill and how its provisions will be received.
“All of us have a level of concern,” said Sen. Jim Justice (R-W.Va.), who represents a state where nearly one-third of residents are on Medicaid.
“The test will be time. … If at the end of the day, the time makes everything work and everything works to the positive, everything’s great,” he said, adding that he stands by his vote and that it will be a net positive. “If in time things start to unravel, it will be a bad day. That’s all there is to it.”
Republicans’ chief challenge will likely be rebutting Democratic messaging on cuts to assistance programs. The bill cuts almost $1 trillion in federal Medicaid spending and tens of millions of dollars from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). It also does not extend Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies.
“The facts are clear: this law will wreak havoc on our country and hurt American families across the nation,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a “Dear Colleague” memo on Tuesday.
“Millions will lose health care, millions more will see their premiums skyrocket, utility bills will rise, hungry children will lose access to food aid, millions of Americans will lose good-paying jobs in the energy and health care economy, and middle class Americans and future generations will pay more … because of the crushing and historic debt Republicans have dumped on their shoulders.”
A number of Republicans were nervous about the Medicaid cuts’ projected impact on rural hospitals. According to an analysis by the Sheps Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, more than 300 hospitals could be at risk of being shuttered.
Two of those are in Maine, where Sen. Susan Collins (R) is the lone incumbent hailing from a blue state. While Collins voted against the “big, beautiful bill,” Democrats are hardly going to spare her and will likely attempt to tether her to the GOP’s newly minted law.
Other Republicans who expressed concerns about Medicaid cuts but ultimately voted for the measure, including Sens. Josh Hawley (Mo.) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), are also likely to face questions in their states, though neither is up for reelection in 2026.
Republicans are also looking to another point in history and hoping to improve on what they believe was a subpar messaging effort to sell their 2017 tax bill, one that was passed late in the year after taking a failed crack at repealing the ACA.
“A dedicated, proactive and coordinated effort is needed to get that message across the board this go-around,” said one Senate GOP aide, arguing that the party was not up to snuff in pitching the bill to voters back then. “The first time around, it was like a, ‘Wow we got this done, on to the next thing,’ type of mentality.”
There are key differences between the 2017 sales job and the one before Republicans now. For one, voters heading into the 2018 midterms saw a tangible change on their pay stubs via the newly implemented tax cuts, while the impact before the 2026 cycle will be smaller.
Still, Republicans may benefit from some of the timelines in the bill. The elimination of taxes on tips and overtime and an increase in the child tax credit will take effect immediately, while implementation of Medicaid and SNAP cuts won’t take place until after the midterms.
For the moment, Republicans are insisting this bill will be a political winner despite what they describe as “doomsday” talk by the minority party. Not only are they standing by the nascent law, they believe they can succeed next year because of it.
“Those are reforms. These are good structural reforms,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said about the Medicaid and SNAP cuts. “We’ll be playing offense on that.”
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