BURSTFormer Vice President Harris slammed the “big, beautiful bill” and highlighted its cuts to several welfare programs on Tuesday, hours after the GOP megabill narrowly cleared the Senate.
“Thanks to Senate Republicans, 17 million people will lose their health care,” Harris wrote on the social media platform X, citing an estimate from The Washington Post that combines several projections from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
“Thanks to Senate Republicans, rural hospitals will close. Thanks to Senate Republicans, three million Americans, including veterans and seniors, will lose food assistance. Thanks to Senate Republicans, families will see their energy bills go up by $400 a year," she added.
These appear to be Harris’s first public comments about the bill. The former vice president has kept a low profile since the November election, although rumors have swirled that she is interested in a run for California governor.
Harris joins a chorus of Democrats furious over the bill’s passage that are vowing to continue fighting as it heads back to the House.
A number of House Republicans have expressed serious concerns about the bill’s Senate version, particularly over changes to Medicaid and the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap. The House Rules Committee met this afternoon to discuss the measure.
Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), a member of the Rules Committee, called the Senate’s version a “nonstarter” in the hours after it passed and said he would vote “no” on any procedural measure.
In her Tuesday post, Harris urged people to call their representatives and tell them to vote “no” on the bill, writing “There is still time to stop this bill.”
President Trump has maintained that he wants the bill on his desk by July 4, a line that GOP congressional leadership reiterated after the Senate version passed Tuesday.