Pass Backwards

“The Senate vote amounted to a political and policy gamble for Republicans, who embraced the bill despite considerable reservations in their ranks about a measure that would swell the deficit and cut vital federal programs including Medicaid — and that polls show is deeply unpopular with voters. In the end, spurred by fear of crossing Mr. Trump and allowing a tax increase to take effect at the end of the year, they rallied around the measure — just barely.” JD Vance cast the tie-breaking vote. Now we’ll see if this terrible bill is bad enough for the House GOP to embrace. NYT (Gift Article): Live Updates: Senate Passes Trump’s Signature Policy Bill.

+ Dan Pfeiffer sums things up pretty well: “Congress has done a lot of dumb shit over the years, but this bill—if and when it becomes law—might just be the dumbest. The whole process of passing it has been surreal and serves as a metaphor for the Trump-era Republican Party. No one is asking for it. Other than preventing a tax increase, it doesn’t achieve a single long-standing conservative policy goal. No one campaigned on these ideas, and the public is screaming that they hate the bill. It’s bad policy, worse politics—and yet Republicans march onward because Donald Trump wants a ‘win.’ Not a substantive win. Not even a political win. Just a win for the sake of a win. That’s the only rationale. There’s no further consideration for why this bill should be passed or what happens when it does. They do it because Trump wants it—even though he has no idea why he wants it, or what’s in it.”

+ What we don’t know is how this bill will impact the GOP at the ballot box. What we do know is how it will impact many ordinary Americans. WaPo (Gift Article): At least 17 million Americans would lose insurance under Trump plan.