Scoop: GOP to go on messaging blitz for Trump's "big, beautiful bill"
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
House Republicans hold a post-election news conference outside the Capitol on Nov. 12, 2024. Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
House Republicans' campaign arm is going on the offensive in the battle for public opinion over President Trump's "big, beautiful bill."
Why it matters: Democrats have hammered Republicans over the legislation's deep cuts to Medicaid, but the National Republican Congressional Committee thinks they have the winning message to expand their numbers in the 2026 midterms.
- Republicans plan to message their legislative victory by branding Democrats' opposition as voting to raise taxes on small businesses and American families, according to an internal memo first shared with Axios.
- "Every Democrat voted to hurt working families and to protect the status quo. ... House Republicans will be relentless in making this vote the defining issue of 2026," the memo says.
Yes, but: Republicans have their work cut out for them.
- Recent polls have shown that only 23%–38% of American adults and voters support the legislation.
Zoom in: The House-passed bill makes permanent Trump's 2017 tax cuts and adds additional tax benefits — no tax on tips or overtime and a temporary tax deduction for those 65 and older.
- The NRCC is highlighting a $1,700 tax cut for families of four in their messaging efforts.
- Trump is set to speak Thursday evening at the Iowa State Fairgrounds — an event that's part July 4 celebration and part "big, beautiful bill" victory lap.
State of play: The House narrowly passed the bill 218-214, and GOP members with an array of concerns have spent days publicly dunking on the measure.
- Rep. Keith Self (R-Texas) called the bill "morally and fiscally bankrupt" in a post on X.
- Rep. David Valadao (R-Calif.) said the bill makes "harmful cuts to Medicaid" and puts "critical funding at risk."
- Both ultimately voted in favor of the bill with no changes.
The other side: Democrats are already vowing to make the bill a centerpiece of their midterm strategy, too.
- "From now until November 2026, the DCCC will continue to communicate the harm this bill will cause," a memo from the House Democrats' campaign arm says. "Republicans will lose the majority in 2026 and the Big, Ugly Bill will be the reason why."
Zoom in: The NRCC is confident that work requirements in Medicaid and increased border security funding resonate with voters, and they plan to spotlight those provisions.
- The memo cites an internal GOP poll that found 72% of voters support work requirements, and 86% support removing deceased or ineligible recipients from Medicaid.
The bottom line: Republicans still have a highly skeptical public to convince.
- Republicans are aware polling as a whole isn't pretty, Axios' Stef Kight reports, but Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) predicted last week that those numbers would improve after the final bill is passed.
Editor's note: This story is corrected to state that the bill will give a temporary tax deduction for those 65 and older (not eliminate a tax on Social Security).
