‘They Can’t Defend It’: Democrats Blast Midnight Budget Session
Republicans advancing legislation which would slash programs, cut taxes for wealthy
House Democrats assailed their Republican counterparts for holding a key meeting to advance their so-called “Big, Beautiful Bill” under the dead of night, when most Americans were sleeping.
The House Rules Committee launched what would become a marathon session to advance their massive budget bill in the wee hours of Wednesday night at 1 am local time in Washington DC.
The Republican legislation is a massive package that would make bone-deep cuts to government programs like Medicaid and SNAP, which provides healthcare and food assistance respectively to tens of millions of Americans in order to fund a new round of tax cuts tilted mostly towards the wealthiest Americans and large corporations.
Democrats accused Republicans of holding the session at such an unusual time to hide their work from the American people.
Polling data indicates that the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," also known as the "Big Beautiful Bill," faces significant public opposition.
“You don’t discuss a bill in the dead of night if you’re proud of that bill. And when that bill takes away healthcare from 13 million Americans and food from 18 million hungry children to pay for billionaire tax breaks, you shouldn’t be proud of it,” Rep Deborah Ross (D-NC) posted to her social media.
Rep Jim McGovern, of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the rules committee, savaged the Republican legislation during that midnight debate.
“You are literally taking food off kids’ plates to buy Elon Musk another yacht,” he said, referring to the world’s richest man who helped fund Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign. “I guess he’s getting a good return on his campaign donations.”
McGovern added: “This is not policy. This is theft.”
As the nighttime meeting began, a Democratic member of the rules committee — Rep Joe Neguse, of Colorado — posted to social media: “Republican leadership scheduled the hearing on their reckless reconciliation bill at 1:00 am — because they know the public would never support it in the light of day.
@HouseDemocrats are here to shine a light on this tax scam and fight for everyday Americans. Stay tuned.”
Later that night, he added: “As I asked my House Republican colleagues at 3:00 am — why did they schedule a hearing on their reckless budget bill in the dead of the night? Because they can’t defend it.”
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