INTERVIEW: 15 House Republicans on second reconciliation, OBBB wins, and more
Following the successful passage of a historic reconciliation bill, the Washington Reporter interviewed 15 House Republicans about the bill’s wins for their districts and what they want from the next reconciliation bill that could come as soon as this fall.
Even after the One Big, Beautiful Bill’s (OBBB) passage, lawmakers are eager for more reconciliation. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R., Iowa) said that she’s “in favor of doing more than one reconciliation bill,” and that in future ones, she’d “like to see us do more stuff on reforming Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act so people have access to insurance.”
“There are unequal provisions in the ACA that made it difficult by design for small businesses to offer insurance,” Miller-Meeks said. “I’d also like year-round E-15, since I’m from Iowa. We also want to also keep providers independent.”
Miller-Meeks added that she has been traversing town halls across her district, and union workers, law enforcement officers, and seniors have been thanking her for the work on the bill.
Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R., Wis.), a former Navy SEAL, was undeterred by the chaos of the first bill.
“I want to see a reconciliation bill once a month,” he said. “This helps us tackle waste, fraud, and abuse.”
Van Orden also said that the OBBB “rocks for the 3rd District” — provisions like the provider tax were specifically important, but other provisions have made their way through the “pub culture” of Wisconsin, and people like what they see.
“The servers in these pubs are working their tails off,” Van Orden said. Bartenders love the abolition of taxes on tips, for example.
“We’re a manufacturing district, overtime is not going to get taxed. Our seniors are getting a $6,000 tax break. We secured crop insurance. One of the primary reasons that farms were closing was the death tax. Farmers need the right amount of land, the right amount of iron, and the right people. Farmers are land rich and cash poor. If you have a farm and god forbid your folks die, you used to have to find 30 percent of that farm’s value.”
Rep. Burgess Owens (R., Utah), one of the GOP’s top education policymakers, said he’d like to see the next reconciliation tackle school choice even more.
“There are a lot of great things that have happened with OBBB,” the Super Bowl winner said. “My piece was education.”
“If we don’t get our kids thinking properly, we’ll lose our country from within,” Owens said. “This is going to be one of the greatest legacies that we’ll ever have. In the next one I’d like to tweak it even more.”
“I’d love to see school choice be across the board and universal,” he added.
Other local wins included the tax on automotive loans, which Rep. Tom Barrett (R., Mich.) said will “directly affect my district.”
“We are very proud to have GM in my district,” he said. “The [research and development] expensing is very important,” Barrett said. “Small businesses have been telling me that they are ready to expand, but they need that certainty. We’re going to see the economy really hit assuming we get rates cut by the federal reserve, which is overdue.”
As befits a party that represents most of rural America, lawmakers like Reps. Adrian Smith (R., Neb.) and Claudia Tenney (R., N.Y.) highlighted the wins for their districts.
“Business expensing, whether it’s for a farm, ranch, or a manufacturer” is important, Smith said.
“The renewal of the TCJA” is key, Tenney said. “95+ percent of people who go to work every day in my communities go to a small business.”
“We also have big wins like the low income housing credit that I worked on, and the new markets tax credit,” Tenney also said. “That will be very helpful in a rural district like mine. Farmers get a lot of benefits from this, and we are hoping that some of the tax credits for semiconductor producers like Micron will impact all of upstate New York.”
“Child tax credit expansion is another, deductions for Social Security too. No tax on tips, no tax on overtime will be big for New York, especially with our high minimum wage,” she continued. “Another big thing that will be helpful is unleashing American energy. I have all of the nuclear power plants in all of New York.”
So what’s next? GOP leaders are already angling for a second reconciliation package, and everyone had thoughts on what should be in it.
Rep. Jim Baird (R., Ind.) gave the most comprehensive wish list to the Reporter.
“We need to make sure the border is closed,” he said. “That’s important for any future reconciliation. Energy is next in my thinking. We need more offshore drilling and that all of the sources of energy are on the table, including biofuels.”
“We need to move to energy independence, if we’re dependent on an adversary for energy needs, that’s concerning, because that will relate to food security. Then we’re going to move on to other issues in terms of making sure Medicaid and SNAP programs are finalized, and move towards increasing our research dollars, and the impact that that has with relation to our adversaries.”
Rep. Ralph Norman (R., S.C.) said that it is rare for one party to have a governing trifecta in D.C., and he wants the next reconciliation to “cut deficit spending, we can't have another one with just cuts.”
“We really needed more cuts than we got,” Norman said. “I’m excited about the substance of ours, including the rescissions.”
Spending cuts was a theme in what Reps. Beth Van Duyne (R., Texas), Mark Harris (R., N.C.), Rudy Yakym (R., Ind.), and Doug LaMalfa (R., Calif.) told the Reporter they want to see next.
“I look at the $37 trillion of debt that we’re in, and our deficit,” Van Duyne said. “We need a structurally sound bill. I want to look at waste, fraud, and abuse, as well as regulatory reform.”
“We all went into this first reconciliation package with the understanding that there are two sides of the ledger,” Harris said. “The tax cuts and at the same time we had to find ways to reduce the spending so that we don’t blow a hole through the deficit.”
“What we did will prove to be successful. That second reconciliation package and the rescissions package are all about bending the curve of the national debt,” Harris continued.
“We saved over $1 trillion in this last reconciliation, the most we have ever saved in one vote in history,” Yakym said. “If we go into a second package, I hope we can save even more money. Restoring fiscal responsibility to Washington is why I get out of bed in the morning.”
Finally, LaMalfa said that “deficit reduction has got to be a cornerstone of anything we do in that venue.”
“We’re not allowed to do a lot of policy by definition with it. Tackling this deficit is critical, and we’ve taken a big whack at it. DOGE did a great job, Elon Musk did a great job,” LaMalfa said. “I don’t like seeing that feud between him and Trump. I hope we can have a better understanding by the parliamentarian on some of the stuff that was taken out, so hopefully we can massage some of those things. Unfortunately, getting 60 votes in the Senate is nearly impossible.”
Lawmakers were also eager to highlight likes from “the Democrats and the regressive woke sectors.” Most said that the biggest lies revolved around Medicaid.
Rep. Mike Haridopolos (R., Fla.), who dealt with Medicaid as the President of the Florida Senate, pointed to “pages 630-633 specifically” of the bill that “specifically” counter the “outright lies from the Democrats that we would take away these programs from the most vulnerable.”
“All we’re doing is making sure that the system survives and that it has the guardrails that it is intended to have,” Rep. Mark Alford (R., Mo.) explained.
The lies about Medicaid cuts in rural areas were particularly glaring, Rep. Troy Downing (R., Mont.) said.
“I’m in a very rural district, and I understand that a lot of my constituents depend heavily on Medicare and Medicaid,” he said.
“We’re making sure that those billions of dollars of fraudulent payments are stopping, and that we are spending money on people who need it. They keep talking about how these provider tax credits are going to destroy critical access hospitals, but those provider tax credits don’t affect Montana at all, that’s really a loophole to allow states to gouge more money out of the feds. That reduction from 4.1 down to 3.5 percent doesn’t affect Montana at all, because we’re already sub 3.5 percent.”
“It was a loophole anyway, and that needed to be corrected,” Downing added.
Below are transcripts of our interview with 15 Republican lawmakers, lightly edited for clarity.
Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R., Wis.):
Washington Reporter:
It looks like Congress is heading towards a second reconciliation, if not a third one too; what are your priorities that you’d like to see in that?
Rep. Derrick Van Orden:
I want to see a reconciliation bill once a month. This helps us tackle waste, fraud, and abuse.
Washington Reporter:
How does the One Big, Beautiful Bill help your district specifically?
Rep. Derrick Van Orden:
We pulled off a coup with the provider tax.
Washington Reporter:
What is the biggest misconception about the One Big, Beautiful Bill?
Rep. Derrick Van Orden:
Democrats are lying about cutting Medicaid. We got some language changed, and then the state House in Wisconsin, increased the provider tax. Now we brought back home an additional billion dollars for Wisconsin for Medicaid; this completely destroys the Democrats’ entire narrative. We also got hundreds of millions of dollars for rural hospitals, working with Dr. Oz. We’re a pub culture in Wisconsin; the servers in these pubs are working their tails off. We’re a manufacturing district, overtime is not going to get taxed. Our seniors are getting a $6,000 tax break. We secured crop insurance. One of the primary reasons that farms were closing was the death tax. Farmers need the right amount of land, the right amount of iron, and the right people. Farmers are land rich and cash poor. If you have a farm and god forbid your folks die, you used to have to find 30 percent of that farm’s value. Overall, this bill rocks for the 3rd District.
Washington Reporter:
I was just in Israel during the 12 Day War, and I spent no shortage of time in a bomb shelter there. What would your go-to bomb shelter snack be?
Rep. Derrick Van Orden:
It depends on the region. If you’re in Central America, you can’t go wrong with a solid taco or a burrito; you don’t want a taco if you’re walking up and down the steps. In the Middle East, candied dates are always good. If you’re in Iraq, there’s an orange drink that’s good for a hot day in a bunker. In Africa, samosas are good. In Asia, depends on what country, but sushi is good, although it doesn’t age well. Yakisoba if you're in Korea is great. In Eastern Europe, you can have a lamb, beef and pork mixture with onions.
Washington Reporter:
If you could switch districts with one of your colleagues for just one day, where are you going?
Rep. Derrick Van Orden:
Nowhere but the 3rd District. I’ve lived and worked on 5 continents, and the 3rd Congressional District is the most beautiful place on the whole planet.
Rep. Tom Barrett (R., Mich.):
Washington Reporter:
It looks like Congress is heading towards a second reconciliation, if not a third one too; what are your priorities that you’d like to see in that?
Rep. Tom Barrett:
I want us to take some lessons from the first one and see how it goes into effect. We’re never going to work ourselves out of a job here because there are always going to be problems to fix.
Washington Reporter:
How does the One Big, Beautiful Bill help your district specifically?
Rep. Tom Barrett:
I have two General Motors plants, so the tax on automotive loans is going to directly affect my district. We are very proud to have GM in my district. The R&D expensing is very important. Small businesses have been telling me that they are ready to expand, but they need that certainty. We’re going to see the economy really hit assuming we get rates cut by the federal reserve, which is overdue.
Washington Reporter:
What is the biggest misconception about the One Big, Beautiful Bill?
Rep. Tom Barrett:
The biggest lie that the Democrats have told is that we’re going to rip health care away from people who are the most in need in our country. None of us came here to do that. People’s health care is very serious and important to us. We want modest but meaningful work requirements. Having certainty of work, especially for men, is very important. Having that purpose is important, and there are a lot of cultural benefits that come from that. Americans are very generous but we expect people to work. Most Americans support work requirements for Medicaid.
Washington Reporter:
I was just in Israel during the 12 Day War, and I spent no shortage of time in a bomb shelter there. What would your go-to bomb shelter snack be?
Rep. Tom Barrett:
You’ve gotta have something that is good for morale, so something sweet. You don’t want chocolate in the desert, but some Skittles would be good. You also want something that’s a salty snack, so beef jerky is good for sustenance.
Washington Reporter:
If you could switch districts with one of your colleagues for just one day, where are you going?
Rep. Tom Barrett:
I lived in Alabama for two years in the district when I was flight school. I lived in Enterprise, which is Barry Moore’s district.
Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R., Iowa):
Washington Reporter:
It looks like Congress is heading towards a second reconciliation, if not a third one too; what are your priorities that you’d like to see in that?
Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks:
I’d like to see us do more stuff on reforming Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act so people have access to insurance. There are unequal provisions in the ACA that made it difficult by design for small businesses to offer insurance. I’d also like year-round E-15, since I’m from Iowa. We also want to also keep providers independent. I am in favor of doing more than one reconciliation bill.
Washington Reporter:
How does the One Big, Beautiful Bill help your district specifically?
Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks:
What you hear about from other media outlets are about protests in districts, especially in swing districts. This past week I was home at county fairs, and I’ve got 20 counties, and people are very excited about it. People thanked me, especially seniors. Families knew their taxes were going to go up if this bill didn’t pass. Democrats were going to raise their taxes. When I’m in parades, I thank the law enforcement for keeping us safe, and they were saying thanks for no tax on overtime. That’s a big deal for law enforcement and firefighters. The union members in my district like no tax on overtime. Restaurant staff like the no tax on tips.
Washington Reporter:
What is the biggest misconception about the One Big, Beautiful Bill?
Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks:
The biggest piece of misinformation is that people with disabilities will be kicked off Medicaid. Illegal immigrants aren’t supposed to be on Medicaid to begin with, and the federal government shouldn’t pay for this if a state chooses to do so. States should be allowed to remove them. One of my bills was incorporated into this, it saves significant dollars and doesn’t deny anyone coverage to anyone. When people understand the community engagement and work requirements, they support them. Asking your 55 year old neighbor to work so you can stay at home so you can have Medicaid is unfair. Working or volunteering 80 hours a month is fair. The left portrays this as a bill with no exemptions, but this was done very thoughtfully.
Washington Reporter:
I was just in Israel during the 12 Day War, and I spent no shortage of time in a bomb shelter there. What would your go-to bomb shelter snack be?
Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks:
Cheez-Its, I like the mixed cheddar and Swiss cheese ones specifically.
Washington Reporter:
If you could switch districts with one of your colleagues for just one day, where are you going?
Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks:
I’ve never thought about swapping districts, but if I had to, I would swap with Greg Murphy.
Rep. Troy Downing (R., Mont.):
Washington Reporter:
It looks like Congress is heading towards a second reconciliation, if not a third one too; what are your priorities that you’d like to see in that?
Rep. Troy Downing:
I’d love to see more places to cut spending, that’s important. We’ve taken our first bite at the apple. I wish we’d been a little stronger in some areas there.
Washington Reporter:
How does the One Big, Beautiful Bill help your district specifically?
Rep. Troy Downing:
The most important win is making sure that TCJA didn’t expire. That would have been a 26 percent average tax increase in Montana. My district is very heavy in agriculture and natural resources, so making sure that death tax didn’t come back was very important. It’s a national security issue if you have families that are struggling to afford a farm; if someone passes away and they try and pass that along to their kids but they can’t afford the tax, that is a problem. If you want to bring a country down, you make it so it can’t feed itself. Keeping multigenerational farms in business is very important.
Washington Reporter:
What is the biggest misconception about the One Big, Beautiful Bill?
Rep. Troy Downing:
That we’re going to start killing people, throwing them off their insurance, and that people are going to die. I’m in a very rural district, and I understand that a lot of my constituents depend heavily on Medicare and Medicaid. We’re making sure that those billions of dollars of fraudulent payments are stopping, and that we are spending money on people who need it. They keep talking about how these provider tax credits are going to destroy critical access hospitals, but those provider tax credits don’t affect Montana at all, that’s really a loophole to allow states to gouge more money out of the feds. That reduction from 4.1 down to 3.5 percent doesn’t affect Montana at all, because we’re already sub 3.5 percent. It was a loophole anyway, and that needed to be corrected.
Washington Reporter:
I was just in Israel during the 12 Day War, and I spent no shortage of time in a bomb shelter there. What would your go-to bomb shelter snack be?
Rep. Troy Downing:
I’m from Montana, it would have to be beef jerky. This isn’t a totally hypothetical question for me, actually. When I was in the military, I was coming back from a mission that went badly in Kandahar, and when I was coming back I called my wife to let her know I had a bad day and wanted to talk to her, and then the alarm goes off at the airfield and you start hearing missiles blowing up, and my wife asked what was going on, and my response was that if they haven’t hit me yet, they’re not going to get me.
Washington Reporter:
If you could switch districts with one of your colleagues for just one day, where are you going?
Rep. Troy Downing:
There are parts of the country that I really love, like Montana and the Dakotas. Julie Fedorchak is doing a great job; I’d be at home in North Dakota.
Rep. Burgess Owens (R., Utah):
Washington Reporter:
It looks like Congress is heading towards a second reconciliation, if not a third one too; what are your priorities that you’d like to see in that?
Rep. Burgess Owens:
There are a lot of great things that have happened with OBBB; my piece was education. If we don’t get our kids thinking properly, we’lll lose our country from within. This is going to be one of the greatest legacies that we’ll ever have. In the next one I’d like to tweak it even more. I’d love to see school choice be across the board and universal. It’s tax credits, which is important, and parents get to choose what kind of school to use. It brings merit and competition to our education system.
Washington Reporter:
How does the One Big, Beautiful Bill help your district specifically?
Rep. Burgess Owens:
We’re the fastest growing state, and the fact that we have tax credits is critical. There are benefits for families that are growing, benefits for seniors. Across the board, it helps Americans who want to write off things that they will use to benefit their businesses. The small business owners are the power of our middle class. Our middle class is the core of our culture.
Washington Reporter:
What is the biggest misconception about the One Big, Beautiful Bill?
Rep. Burgess Owens:
Where do I start? Unfortunately what the left does is it lies about everything. But now we have something that we can prove them wrong with. This coming year, as people begin to feel safer and build their businesses, people will realize that the GOP has been honest, and that the other party has not. This will be a very eye opening experience for Democrats. This will be a defining moment where people will be like me 40 years ago when I became a Republican.
Washington Reporter:
I was just in Israel during the 12 Day War, and I spent no shortage of time in a bomb shelter there. What would your go-to bomb shelter snack be?
Rep. Burgess Owens:
A good book, an energy drink, and an elliptical. If I can get 20-30 minutes in on an elliptical then I’m good. The Pointer Sisters and Donna Summers from the disco era are my go-to listens when I’m running.
Washington Reporter:
If you could switch districts with one of your colleagues for just one day, where are you going?
Rep. Burgess Owens:
That’s a great question. I feel so blessed, so I would never trade districts. I grew up in the deep south in an era where we had such remarkable parents and strong values, even though it was in the time of segregation. Those values are exactly what I am representing now in Utah. My dad was an agronomist and I represent large agricultural areas. Any place else wouldn’t work for me.
Rep. Adrian Smith (R., Neb.):
Washington Reporter:
It looks like Congress is heading towards a second reconciliation, if not a third one too; what are your priorities that you’d like to see in that?
Rep. Adrian Smith:
Taxes, economic growth, reducing more regulations, everything we can possibly fit into reconciliation. We are off to a good start with what we passed a few weeks ago, and seeing those components taking off is great. We are strengthening Medicaid by making sure that resources get to the neediest among us; this will hopefully improve health care for all of us. If you really look at Obamacare and how it’s taken place the past few years, it hasn’t improved health; we need to remove barriers to new technologies; that will help save tax dollars.
Washington Reporter:
How does the One Big, Beautiful Bill help your district specifically?
Rep. Adrian Smith:
Business expensing, whether it’s for a farm, ranch, or a manufacturer. It’s hard to pick among all of the children in the family, but carrying this out is huge for businesses in my district.
Washington Reporter:
What is the biggest misconception about the One Big, Beautiful Bill?
Rep. Adrian Smith:
That it’s an attack on Medicaid. When you look at rural America, it’s a reduction in funds that have not even yet reached a lot of these places, so it can’t be blamed for bad things that are happening right now. There’s been some regret in Nebraska about a rural health clinic that closed right before the Senate vote, and local folks understand that there are other dynamics at play here than this bill.
Washington Reporter:
I was just in Israel during the 12 Day War, and I spent no shortage of time in a bomb shelter there. What would your go-to bomb shelter snack be?
Rep. Adrian Smith:
Popcorn, and not just because my district sells a lot of it.
Washington Reporter:
If you could switch districts with one of your colleagues for just one day, where are you going?
Rep. Adrian Smith:
I like seasons, so mid-section of America or north. Last summer I visited Eastern Washington State, I was fascinated by its diversity, from the heavily forested areas to the flat area. The more I see of the country, the more I love home.
Rep. Mike Haridopolos (R., Fla.):
Washington Reporter:
It looks like Congress is heading towards a second reconciliation, if not a third one too; what are your priorities that you’d like to see in that?
Rep. Mike Haridopolos:
The best thing we can do is look at even more DOGE cuts, the more transparent we are, the better. We want to find wasteful spending everywhere. One of the bills I’m working on, with Rick Scott, is called the LEDGER Act. We need to put out who got the money, why they got the money. This worked incredibly well in Florida.
Washington Reporter:
How does the One Big, Beautiful Bill help your district specifically?
Rep. Mike Haridopolos:
The most important thing that people saw there is that we actually backed up our campaign promises. That is such a welcome change in Washington D.C. The issue I heard the most about in my campaign was border security, and even before this was passed, we had seen a drastic reduction. Now we have the resources to make sure our border stays secure.
Washington Reporter:
What is the biggest misconception about the One Big, Beautiful Bill?
Rep. Mike Haridopolos:
As a person who understands Medicaid very well, being the former president of the Florida senate, the outright lies from the Democrats that we would take away these programs from the most vulnerable really frustrates me. They know that we would never take Medicaid away from a senior in the nursing home, pages 630-633 specifically lays this out. Yet here they were trying to scare people, that is despicable. The good news is that a year from now, we’re going to find out that we told the truth.
Washington Reporter:
I was just in Israel during the 12 Day War, and I spent no shortage of time in a bomb shelter there. What would your go-to bomb shelter snack be?
Rep. Mike Haridopolos:
My wife wouldn't like this, but Twizzlers, and if I wanted to be healthy, I would pick popcorn.
Washington Reporter:
If you could switch districts with one of your colleagues for just one day, where are you going?
Rep. Mike Haridopolos:
I’m doing pretty well in the surfing capital of America. The greatest surfer of all time, Kelly Slater, lives in my district. I have Kennedy Space Center where all the action is, my backyard is the river, I’m a mile from the ocean, we have no state income tax, so I’m doing pretty well. It would be very neat to represent Northwest Arkansas if I had to pick though.
Rep. Claudia Tenney (R., N.Y.):
Washington Reporter:
It looks like Congress is heading towards a second reconciliation, if not a third one too; what are your priorities that you’d like to see in that?
Rep. Claudia Tenney:
The OBBB was an incredible accomplishment, it was a struggle to get it going, we spent a lot of time on it in the Ways and Means Committee, but we got it done. In terms of where do we go next, because so much was in OBBB, we do have opportunities to do more work on the Medicaid and Medicare Subcommittee side that I’m on in Ways and Means. We have a problem with our health care system. New York State is one of the worst providers of health care, because of how New York lurches towards single payer at times. This ends up causing lesser outcomes for our patients. We’re going to work on trying to eliminate the divide between doctors and patients. Looking at this from a provider-patient perspective, we need to take away some of the obstacles that have really benefitted insurance companies. In some of OBBB, we expanded the right of Americans to go into health savings accounts. New York City has a looming catastrophe with Zohran Mamdani that we may have to factor in to future reconciliation bills.
Washington Reporter:
How does the One Big, Beautiful Bill help your district specifically?
Rep. Claudia Tenney:
The renewal of the TCJA. 95+ percent of people who go to work every day in my communities go to a small business. Keeping small business competitive and in business is the secret to what made the original TCJA so successful. We made a lot of these provisions permanent. Businesses get certainty. We also have big wins like the low income housing credit that I worked on, and the new markets tax credit. That will be very helpful in a rural district like mine. Farmers get a lot of benefits from this, and we are hoping that some of the tax credits for semiconductor producers like Micron will impact all of upstate New York. Child tax credit expansion is another, deductions for Social Security too. No tax on tips, no tax on overtime will be big for New York, especially with our high minimum wage. Another big thing that will be helpful is unleashing American energy. I have all of the nuclear power plants in all of New York. We need to overcome New York’s catastrophic energy policies.
Washington Reporter:
What is the biggest misconception about the One Big, Beautiful Bill?
Rep. Claudia Tenney:
A number of my constituents have texted me saying that they’ve had their Medicaid taken away. That’s not true. No changes to Medicaid will happen until 2028. People who should be getting it are being displaced by illegal immigrants. The work requirements are very broad. New York has a law in place that will allow people to receive an essential plan from new York, even though this is bad for taxpayers.
Washington Reporter:
I was just in Israel during the 12 Day War, and I spent no shortage of time in a bomb shelter there. What would your go-to bomb shelter snack be?
Rep. Claudia Tenney:
Buc-ee's beaver nuggets.
Washington Reporter:
If you could switch districts with one of your colleagues for just one day, where are you going?
Rep. Claudia Tenney:
I’d say Elise Stefanik’s because I love the Adirondacks and it includes part of my old district, and I could spend time with my former constituents.
Rep. Ralph Norman (R., S.C.):
Washington Reporter:
It looks like Congress is heading towards a second reconciliation, if not a third one too; what are your priorities that you’d like to see in that?
Rep. Ralph Norman:
We’ve got to cut deficit spending, we can't have another one with just cuts. We really needed more cuts than we got. I’m excited about the substance of ours, including the rescissions, hopefully the Senate will back us up on that. As we look at taking advantage of our reconciliation agenda, think about how rare it is for one party to have the trifecta. We have to deliver to get on a firm financial footing.
Washington Reporter:
How does the One Big, Beautiful Bill help your district specifically?
Rep. Ralph Norman:
Tax cuts, the fact that they can invest in equipment and machinery, the fact that a farmer can gift his property without paying an inheritance tax, input costs for farmers is low, it means a great deal. The fact that we were able to pass without Democratic support is monumental.
Washington Reporter:
What is the biggest misconception about the One Big, Beautiful Bill?
Rep. Ralph Norman:
The lies the Democrats put out, that we cut Social Security, that people are dying. It’s a good bill. With Medicaid, we didn’t cut Medicaid. We made it so people who deserve it the most get it, not illegal aliens.
Washington Reporter:
I was just in Israel during the 12 Day War, and I spent no shortage of time in a bomb shelter there. What would your go-to bomb shelter snack be?
Rep. Ralph Norman:
Cheetos.
Washington Reporter:
If you could switch districts with one of your colleagues for just one day, where are you going?
Rep. Ralph Norman:
I’d pick a district in Texas, probably Chip Roy’s district or Jodey Arrington’s.
Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R., Texas):
Washington Reporter:
It looks like Congress is heading towards a second reconciliation, if not a third one too; what are your priorities that you’d like to see in that?
Rep. Beth Van Duyne:
Cost-cutting measures. I look at the $37 trillion of debt that we’re in, and our deficit. We need a structurally sound bill. I want to look at waste, fraud, and abuse, as well as regulatory reform.
Washington Reporter:
How does the One Big, Beautiful Bill help your district specifically?
Rep. Beth Van Duyne:
Extension of TCJA, support and resources necessary to continue our securing of the border, and deregulation of energy.
Washington Reporter:
What is the biggest misconception about the One Big, Beautiful Bill?
Rep. Beth Van Duyne:
I continue to hear my Democrat colleagues talk about how people are going to die because we are requiring work for people who should be at work. We are getting people off of Medicaid who are not supposed to be on it.
Washington Reporter:
I was just in Israel during the 12 Day War, and I spent no shortage of time in a bomb shelter there. What would your go-to bomb shelter snack be?
Rep. Beth Van Duyne:
Macadamia nuts, they have lots of fat, lots of protein. Hot tea too.
Washington Reporter:
If you could switch districts with one of your colleagues for just one day, where are you going?
Rep. Beth Van Duyne:
Byron Donalds’s district, he’s got Naples.
Rep. Jim Baird (R., Ind.):
Washington Reporter:
It looks like Congress is heading towards a second reconciliation, if not a third one too; what are your priorities that you’d like to see in that?
Rep. Jim Baird:
We’re trying to finish some of the executive orders and codify them that fit Trump’s agenda. We’ve made great progress on some of these executive orders. Because of my background in agriculture and science and the military, those three areas are important for my focus in the next one. Most of these farm are owned by individuals. We need to make sure the border is closed. That’s important for any future reconciliation. Energy is next in my thinking. We need more offshore drilling and that all of the sources of energy are on the table, including biofuels. We need to move to energy independence, if we’re dependent on an adversary for energy needs, that’s concerning, because that will relate to food security. Then we’re going to move on to other issues in terms of making sure Medicaid and SNAP programs are finalized, and move towards increasing our research dollars, and the impact that that has with relation to our adversaries. AI is a major component too, this impacts all industries, even drones and agriculture.
Washington Reporter:
How does the One Big, Beautiful Bill help your district specifically?
Rep. Jim Baird:
Small businesses really won. The tax reform, and the agriculture components were huge. Removing the death tax is very important, even though it doesn’t affect everyone. The other area is having tax credits and tax deductions with 199A. Taxes have huge impacts on farmers.
Washington Reporter:
What is the biggest misconception about the One Big, Beautiful Bill?
Rep. Jim Baird:
That we’re going to take health care away from millions of Americans on Medicaid. There are 1.4 million illegal aliens on Medicaid programs. I don’t see how we can justify our citizens paying taxes to support that program when those folks have not been here legally and they have not done anything to contribute to the success of that program. If we can let states do a better job of administering the Medicaid program, which they can do, that leaves more funds for those really in need. Same thing with SNAP.
Washington Reporter:
I was just in Israel during the 12 Day War, and I spent no shortage of time in a bomb shelter there. What would your go-to bomb shelter snack be?
Rep. Jim Baird:
Peanut butter and jelly on bread. That combines a protein source and an energy source, and bread!
Washington Reporter:
If you could switch districts with one of your colleagues for just one day, where are you going?
Rep. Jim Baird:
I wouldn’t want to do it. I like my district, I like my people, Purdue is my alma mater, and that ties me to research and science. Purdue has turned out more astronauts than any other school.
Rep. Mark Harris (R., N.C.):
Washington Reporter:
It looks like Congress is heading towards a second reconciliation, if not a third one too; what are your priorities that you’d like to see in that?
Rep. Mark Harris:
As we move forward we’ve got to continue to deal with this national debt, that to me is such an important piece of everything we’re doing in Congress and getting our spending under control. We all went into this first reconciliation package with the understanding that there are two sides of the ledger. The tax cuts and at the same time we had to find ways to reduce the spending so that we don’t blow a hole through the deficit. What we did will prove to be successful. That second reconciliation package and the rescissions package are all about bending the curve of the national debt.
Washington Reporter:
How does the One Big, Beautiful Bill help your district specifically?
Rep. Mark Harris:
In many ways, it is the overall bill. There are so many parts of this bill that could have been split into 7 or 8 bills, but it was not. When you look at the tax cuts, and when you look at the certainty that they bring, that is so important. Business owners want certainty. If you’re a CEO of a corporation, you want certainty. Tax cuts and giving certainty to them was a major piece of what we’re doing. It was also the historic cuts and the reduction of spending was significant too. No Congress has done that before.
Washington Reporter:
What is the biggest misconception about the One Big, Beautiful Bill?
Rep. Mark Harris:
That somehow we’re kicking a bunch of people off of Medicaid or that we’re taking food out of the mouths of little children. What we have done with SNAP adjustments and even with the work requirements is simply try to shore up those programs to be able to succeed to be the safety net that they are meant to be. Medicaid was meant to take care of certain groups who need that safety net, and under Biden the rolls just exploded to the point that it was going to be $1 trillion to be able to maintain Medicaid, but that’s impossible. If we’re going to keep that safety net, we’re going to need reforms, and what we did will be lifesaving for Medicaid and SNAP. Democrats love running on falsehoods, but those are just misconceptions, as is the idea that this is being done as a tax cut for billionaires. The average family in North Carolina will save thousands of dollars; these are not millionaires or billionaires.
Washington Reporter:
I was just in Israel during the 12 Day War, and I spent no shortage of time in a bomb shelter there. What would your go-to bomb shelter snack be?
Rep. Mark Harris:
Kit Kats.
Washington Reporter:
If you could switch districts with one of your colleagues for just one day, where are you going?
Rep. Mark Harris:
I absolutely love my district, I can’t even pick one.
Rep. Rudy Yakym (R., Ind.):
Washington Reporter:
It looks like Congress is heading towards a second reconciliation, if not a third one too; what are your priorities that you’d like to see in that?
Rep. Rudy Yakym:
The single biggest concern I have for future generations is our overall federal deficits. We saved over $1 trillion in this last reconciliation, the most we have ever saved in one vote in history. If we go into a second package, I hope we can save even more money. Restoring fiscal responsibility to Washington is why I get out of bed in the morning.
Washington Reporter:
How does the One Big, Beautiful Bill help your district specifically?
Rep. Rudy Yakym:
Delivering on President Trump’s priorities, no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, giving the president the resources he needs to secure the southern border. Joe Biden created this crisis with a stroke of a pen, and this will permanently secure it.
Washington Reporter:
What is the biggest misconception about the One Big, Beautiful Bill?
Rep. Rudy Yakym:
The biggest misconception is that these are tax cuts only for the wealthy. You can walk through so many provisions that benefit the middle and working classes, like no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, there are so many small business provisions in here. This is not a tax cut package for the rich, this is a tax cut package for the working class.
Washington Reporter:
I was just in Israel during the 12 Day War, and I spent no shortage of time in a bomb shelter there. What would your go-to bomb shelter snack be?
Rep. Rudy Yakym:
Beef jerky, specifically my homemade beef jerky.
Washington Reporter:
If you could switch districts with one of your colleagues for just one day, where are you going?
Rep. Rudy Yakym:
I would probably go with Tim Burchett’s for two reasons. I love Tennessee, love the mountains, and rural America. But for Tim, he loves manufacturing, and he’s talked about wanting to come to my district to see how we are the top district in the country for manufacturing intensity.
Rep. Mark Alford (R., Mo.):
Washington Reporter:
It looks like Congress is heading towards a second reconciliation, if not a third one too; what are your priorities that you’d like to see in that?
Rep. Mark Alford:
I know this is coming; Speaker Johnson mentioned it today. What Jodey Arrington is talking about is some reform to Medicare. Social Security and Medicare make up around 70 percent of our budget, and so we’ve got to get Medicare and the savings that we can get. The Democrats are going to scream bloody murder, but we didn’t make cuts. We found savings for Medicaid. Same with SNAP.
Washington Reporter:
How does the One Big, Beautiful Bill help your district specifically?
Rep. Mark Alford:
I deal with small business all the time. The 199A qualified business deduction, S-Corp deduction that many take will allow them to stay in business. The death tax is going to save a lot of farms, especially older ones that are getting passed down across generations.
Washington Reporter:
What is the biggest misconception about the One Big, Beautiful Bill?
Rep. Mark Alford:
Definitely Medicaid. The Democrats and the regressive woke sectors just lied from the outset that we are going to throw people off Medicaid. All we’re doing is making sure that the system survives and that it has the guardrails that it is intended to have.
Washington Reporter:
I was just in Israel during the 12 Day War, and I spent no shortage of time in a bomb shelter there. What would your go-to bomb shelter snack be?
Rep. Mark Alford:
In 1999, we didn’t know what computers were going to do in Y2K, and we had Y2K shelters. A guy I interviewed had a Y2K shelter and he had jugs of water, canned goods, and beef jerky. We laugh about it now, but just in case we have canned goods in our basement. You have to have a can opener though. I love ranch style beans from Texas, green beans, and beef jerky. Don’t forget toilet paper too.
Washington Reporter:
If you could switch districts with one of your colleagues for just one day, where are you going?
Rep. Mark Alford:
Jonathan Jackson’s. Jonathan stayed in my house a few years ago, we were on Ag Committee together. He was really involved with preserving SNAP, but he had never seen where the food was grown, so I wanted to show him. He milked a cow for the first time. He came to my house, we had bourbon and cigars, he called his father, we had Gate’s BBQ, and we had a great discussion about gun control, abortion, all of these things. I also want to see his district.
Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R., Calif.):
Washington Reporter:
It looks like Congress is heading towards a second reconciliation, if not a third one too; what are your priorities that you’d like to see in that?
Rep. Doug LaMalfa:
Deficit reduction has got to be a cornerstone of anything we do in that venue. We’re not allowed to do a lot of policy by definition with it. Tackling this deficit is critical, and we’ve taken a big whack at it. DOGE did a great job, Elon Musk did a great job. I don’t like seeing that feud between him and Trump. I hope we can have a better understanding by the parliamentarian on some of the stuff that was taken out, so hopefully we can massage some of those things. Unfortunately, getting 60 votes in the Senate is nearly impossible.
Washington Reporter:
How does the One Big, Beautiful Bill help your district specifically?
Rep. Doug LaMalfa:
You can’t underestimate the importance of making the tax rates permanent. Getting the 100 percent deductions is important in agriculture, I know that firsthand. The death tax is also really important for families and businesses. Continuing to shore up the border with significant spending is important, fulfilling what President Trump promised from day one and that Biden completely undid. It was astonishing to see the steel purchased by Trump just sitting there under Biden. We still welcome legal immigration to this country, however. That is so often glossed over and lost. Immigrants come at our behest. There are also forestry pieces, the more we can expand forest management, the better off we’ll be in the west. America shouldn’t be the number one important of wood in western countries. With seniors, it’s important to give them tax relief; no taxes on tips and no taxes on overtime are also big things for folks. Those are promises kept. We also codified many of his executive actions into law.
Washington Reporter:
What is the biggest misconception about the One Big, Beautiful Bill?
Rep. Doug LaMalfa:
If you’re not an illegal immigrant, you’re fine. If you’re able-bodied without dependents, those folks need to be seeking work. They’re not going to be immediately kicked off. Same with SNAP. As my pal Andy Harris pointed out, spending on Medicaid will continue to go up.
Washington Reporter:
I was just in Israel during the 12 Day War, and I spent no shortage of time in a bomb shelter there. What would your go-to bomb shelter snack be?
Rep. Doug LaMalfa:
I’d go pretty heavy on Cheez-Its, Wheat Thins, and Ritz crackers.
Washington Reporter:
If you could switch districts with one of your colleagues for just one day, where are you going?
Rep. Doug LaMalfa:
I switched districts with Jill Tokuda in Hawaii because both of our districts had horrible fires. But I would probably pick something in Florida or Texas where they’re seeing success in their states from positive actions of government. Ron DeSantis has done a great job down there. That was a blue-ish state not that long ago. Everything leaving California ends up in states like Texas. Florida has Daytona so that gets a slight edge; Texas has a Formula 1 area too.
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