GOP Senate Votes To Take Away Health Care for Millions In Exchange for Billionaire Tax Breaks

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Senate passed their own version of Trump’s budget bill. Vice President Vance broke a tie to pass the bill after three GOP senators — Susan Collins, Thom Tillis, and Rand Paul — voted against it. The bill will now go back to the House for consideration.

Lisa Gilbert, co-president of Public Citizen, issued the following statement condemning the bill:

“This big, ugly budget bill makes it crystal clear which people Trump and GOP leaders care about, and which people they do not. If this budget passes the House, billionaires will get a massive tax break while some of the most vulnerable people in our country lose access to food assistance and 17 million Americans are stripped of health care. In other words, some Americans will go hungry and millions will go without health care so Jeff Bezos’s third wedding can upstage the $50M one he just held in Venice.

“The bill will race us toward climate catastrophe, costing jobs and raising electric prices by slashing support for renewable energy and imposing new taxes on wind and solar — all while showering new subsidies on Big Oil and fossil fuel companies.

“And, at the same time it steals assistance from vulnerable Americans, the bill would supercharge Trump’s barbaric mass deportation policy and throw an extra $150 billion at Pentagon contractors.

“Any member of Congress with a conscience knows that this bill must not become law. It’s time for the House to stand up to President Trump and vote against it.”