BURSTDemocrats considered potential candidates for the 2028 presidential election quickly pounced on Vice President Vance for casting the tiebreaking vote to pass President Trump’s massive tax and spending bill in the Senate.
From Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) to former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, the Democratic hopefuls placed blame squarely on Vance, who could launch his own bid to succeed Trump in 2028.
“JD Vance was the deciding vote to cut Medicaid across the country,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote in a post on the social platform X. “An absolute and utter betrayal of working families.”
“VP Vance has cast the deciding vote in the Senate to cut Medicaid, take away food assistance, blow up the deficit, and add tax breaks for the wealthiest," Buttigieg, a former 2020 presidential primary candidate, wrote in a post on X.
"This bill is unpopular because it is wrong. Congress votes this week, but it’s our voices - and our votes - that will have the final say,” he added.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), who often serves as a foil to the president, similarly took to X, telling supporters, “Bookmark this,” in response to news that the 100-seat legislative body passed the bill in a 51-50 vote. The vice president, in his Constitutional role as president of the Senate, is called in to cast a vote in the event of a tie.
“JD Vance is the ultimate reason why 17 million Americans will lose their healthcare,” Newsom said.
The final Senate vote on the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act came on Tuesday after hours of tense negotiations that lasted through the night. Lawmakers worked through the weekend before launching a 27-hour marathon of amendment votes on the floor, during which Republican leaders sought to win the support of holdouts.
GOP Sens. Thom Tillis (N.C.), Rand Paul (Ky.) and Susan Collins (Maine) voted against the measure, along with every Democrat.
The bill includes the largest cuts to Medicaid since the program began in the 1960s, a move expected to cause a spike in the number of uninsured Americans over the next decade.
Almost 12 million lower-income Americans would lose their health insurance by 2034, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
The bill is projected to cost more than $3 trillion over the next decade, but it would be partially paid for with about $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid.
Trump and most congressional Republicans say the reductions aren’t true cuts. They argue nobody who should be on Medicaid will lose benefits.
“We’re cutting $1.7 trillion in this bill, and you’re not going to feel any of it,” Trump said at the White House last week.
It still needs to pass the House again, where some moderate Republicans have expressed concerns about the cuts.