‘Cruel, Ugly, Nasty, Immoral’: Democrats Slam Mega-Bill Ahead of House Vote

Updated 9:50 a.m. Thursday

As U.S. representatives gear up for a vote on Donald Trump’s federal budget proposal, House Democrats are planning to buy time and delay the so-called “big, beautiful bill.”

“I’ll be there in the morning to fight this cruel, ugly, nasty, immoral bill,” Rep. Lateefah Simon, D-Oakland, told KQED while heading to the airport on Tuesday shortly after Senate Republicans passed the bill.

The Senate bill narrowly passed after an all-night session on Tuesday, with Vice President JD Vance casting the tie-breaker vote. The latest version of the bill extends tax cuts that Republicans passed in 2017 while slashing food assistance funding and Medicaid.

Simon, who represents the East Bay, is among Democrats presenting amendments to further delay Trump’s tax-and-spending mega-bill’s advance. A core amendment she is proposing would maintain federal funding for food benefits and health care coverage.

“Poor families in my district and across the country are surviving off of $6 equivalent of SNAP benefits per day, and Republicans want to cut those. So I’m going to say ‘Hell no,’” Simon said, adding that the changes will be difficult to get through in the Republican-majority House. “Our job is to fight.”

U.S. Rep. John Garamendi of the East Bay is also offering amendments, including to limit tax reductions for Americans who earn more than $500,000 per year.

“Most of the deficit is a result of the tax cut for billionaires,” Garamendi told KQED. “Nurses, construction workers, teachers — they’re not the ones causing the deficit. If the billionaire tax cut were to be eliminated, we would be in a much better situation dealing with the healthcare services that 16 million Americans will lose, unless there’s a change.”

The bill adds nearly $45 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities and $14 billion for ongoing deportation efforts that include hiring thousands of more agents, on the heels of mass deportation raids, often by unidentified officers in unmarked vans.

Democrats who spoke to KQED said the ICE funding would further entrench the terror enveloping communities across the country, in the place of creating substantive immigration reform.

“The connections between the head of ICE and Stephen Miller, to companies that they once owned — and have an interest in — is gross corruption,” Garamendi said. Increased funding for ICE “not only goes to a very corrupt program, but it doesn’t solve the problem. The problem is that our immigration laws are so out of date.”

U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., earlier this week proposed an amendment to ensure the bill would not increase the deficit, in response to changes made by the Senate that would pile trillions onto the nation’s debt load. Republicans rejected the amendment.

“Senate Republicans just voted to let President Trump and his billionaire buddies steal from working families in order to cut their own taxes by trillions of dollars,” Padilla said. “Americans are struggling to keep up with rising costs from Trump’s chaotic tariffs. Instead of trying to reduce costs, Senate Republicans have chosen to cut a trillion dollars from Medicaid, kicking 17 million people — including over 2.3 million Californians — off their health insurance. Their votes will cause rural hospitals across the country to close.”

Representatives across the Bay Area took their opportunity on Wednesday to slam the budget bill.

“We have a sacred duty to act in [our children’s] best interest. But we are spending their money and borrowing from their future to pay for our present,” Rep. Sam Liccardo, D-San José, said to the House Rules Committee, calling the bill a “shit show.”

Members of Congress know the battle ahead will be ugly. Democrats are expected to vote against the bill, and they need to get at least five Republicans to join them in order to kill it. A vote could come down as soon as Thursday, but Democrats said they are hoping to delay the vote as long as possible.

A handful of Republicans are still on the fence, but most are expected to support it.

“If a Republican does not vote for this bill, then Trump is going to come after them,” Garamendi said. “A delay is probably our best option. There is absolutely no reason this bill has to pass before the 4th of July, other than an artificial deadline set by the president.”

An earlier version of this article misquoted Rep. John Garamendi as saying his amendment would limit tax reductions for Americans for those who earn less than $500,000 per year. The article has been updated to reflect that.