House GOP Sells Out the Most Vulnerable Americans for Trump Merch

The House voted 218 to 214 on Thursday to pass Trump’s vile $4.5 trillion tax-breaks-and-spending-cuts bill, following an all-nighter in which House Speaker Mike Johnson—who has his son help him monitor his porn intake—made sure that any House Republican thinking about voting against the bill knew they shouldn’t fucking dare. The “big, beautiful bill” now goes to Trump’s desk, and he’s expected to sign it on Friday—the Fourth of July deadline he previously demanded.

“The amount of kids who are going to go without health care and food—people like my mom are going to be left to die because they don’t have access to health care,” Rep. Brittany Pettersen (D-Colo.) said as she left the House chamber after the vote. “It’s just pretty unfathomable.”

Every Democrat voted against the nearly 1,000-page bill, with only two Republicans voting no: Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky.

The horrid bill gives ICE an insane budget increase and extends and adds a bunch of tax cuts for the rich, while slashing food benefits for the poorest Americans, “defunding” abortion providers like Planned Parenthood, and cutting nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid, the insurance program for children, pregnant people, people with disabilities, and people with low incomes. The cuts are expected to kick 10 million people off their healthcare. It also gets rid of Biden’s clean-energy tax credits, which is what Elon Musk has been so angry about.

I don’t think anyone is prepared for what they just did w/ ICE.

This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion – making ICE bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, DEA,& others combined.

It is setting up to make what’s happening now look like child’s play. And people are disappearing.

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@aoc.bsky.social) July 3, 2025 at 2:58 PM

On Tuesday, the Senate passed the massive spending bill 51-50, with Vice President JD Vance breaking the tie after three Republicans joined every Democrat in voting against it. After the vote, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said she hoped the House would vote no, saying her decision to vote yes was “agonizing” and that she “struggled mightily.” I hope she never knows another moment of peace.

“They put up a little fight, so that way they have some footage that they can put behind their ads during election time, and then they fold right away,” Frost said Wednesday morning. “Sometimes they stick to it, so we’ll see.”

But fold right away, they did! And all it seemingly took—for some, at least—was signed Trump merch and an invitation to the White House from Trump himself. The New York Times reported on Wednesday:

A conga line of angsty Republican lawmakers filed through the West Wing on Wednesday, hemming and hawing about the big domestic policy bill that President Trump wants them to pass by Friday. They walked out with signed merchandise, photos in the Oval Office and, by some accounts, a newfound appreciation for the bill—targets all of a blunt-force charm offensive waged with precision by the president.

Among the handful of holdouts was Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee. “The president was wonderful, as always,” Burchett said in a video posted to his Twitter at 2 p.m. Wednesday, after meeting with Trump. “Informative, funny, told me he liked seeing me on TV, which is kind of cool.” So happy he has Daddy’s approval. Burchett also spoke with the NYT:

Mr. Burchett told The New York Times later on that his name had been misspelled on the placard placed in front of his chair for the Cabinet Room meeting (it was missing an “r”) so the president scribbled in the letter, signed both sides of the card and gave it to him as a souvenir. Mr. Burchett said the president also loaded up the son of Representative Chip Roy, Republican of Texas, with souvenirs.

During the vote, Burchett tweeted that he still “wasn’t really sure how to vote,” but “after watching Hakeem for 30 seconds I’m firmly a yes.” He was referring to Rep. Hakeem Jeffries’ (D-N.Y.) record-breaking “magic minute” speech (which, notably, was not a “filibuster”), in which he made one final attempt to convince Republicans that this bill was “an extraordinary assault on the health care of the American people.” Unfortunately, getting a handshake from Trump far outweighs representing the best interests of your constituents. Sad!

I hope the GOP enjoy their sick celebration—and I hope every single person in their respective districts [redacted] and then votes their asses out.

And in case it wasn’t clear, fuck Lisa Murkowski.

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