Andrew Clyde joins rebel Republicans in derailing Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’

Clyde was one of five Republicans on the House Budget Committee to break ranks and vote against the 1,116-page measure, which had been cobbled together over the past two weeks by 11 different House committees.

Also voting “no” were U.S. Reps. Chip Roy of Texas, Ralph Norman of South Carolina, Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma, and Lloyd Smucker of Pennsylvania.

“Many of the decent provisions and cuts don’t begin until 2029 and beyond,” said Roy, as conservatives grumbled about spending cuts and the details of changes in the Medicaid program.

Although Clyde and other conservatives support the tax cuts in this package, they said they worry that the GOP plan doesn’t go far enough to cut spending and change how Medicaid works.

For example, the Republican plan would introduce a work requirement for some Medicaid recipients, but those would not start until 2029.

Clyde also argued that the current Medicaid funding formula discriminates against states like Georgia, which did not embrace the expansion of Medicaid coverage under the Obama health law.

“Taxpayers in nonexpansion states — like my constituents in northeast Georgia — are unfairly footing the bill for excessive Medicaid spending in blue states,” Clyde said Friday. That’s “unacceptable,” he said.

“It’s time Republicans prioritize Medicaid for the vulnerable over the able-bodied,” Clyde added.

The ultimate cost of the package is a big problem for Clyde and other deficit hawks. Republicans are still waiting on a final review by the Congressional Budget Office, but the GOP’s own numbers indicate this reconciliation plan could increase federal deficits by at least $12 trillion over the next decade.

Clyde’s vote immediately drew criticism from Sam Couvillon, the Republican mayor of Gainesville.

“Yet again, Rep. Clyde was a decisive vote in opposing @POTUS agenda,“ Couvillon wrote in a post on X, adding that Clyde’s district ”needs a leader who will vote to put them first."

Couvillon announced in January he would run against Clyde next year in the Republican primary.

It is unclear how party leaders will solve the GOP revolt. House Speaker Mike Johnson wanted the full House to vote next week on the tax and budget package.

“I do not anticipate us coming back today,” said Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, the chair of the House Budget Committee, as he told members to go home. The GOP-led panel will convene again Sunday at 10 pm.

Flying back from his trip to the Middle East, Trump had tried to put pressure via social media on Clyde and other Republicans to stick together.

“We don’t need ‘GRANDSTANDERS’ in the Republican Party,” Trump wrote Friday morning on his Truth Social website. “STOP TALKING, AND GET IT DONE!”

But Trump’s warning did not work.

“I am unable to support this package in its current form,” Clyde said just before the Budget Committee vote.

The Georgia Republican made clear that he wants to cut a deal, however.

“I look forward to strengthening this bill to ensure that it does pass, so that we fulfill all of our America First promises.”

The divide among Republicans includes differences over the level of spending cuts, changes to the Medicaid program, how much to increase a deduction for state and local taxes, the fate of Biden-era tax credits for clean energy programs, and concerns about how the GOP plan changes retirement benefits for current federal workers.

From the sidelines, Democrats mocked the defeat.

“House Republicans can’t even pass their own shameful budget bill that guts Medicaid and rips food off tables,” tweeted U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, D-Atlanta.

Some GOP lawmakers weren’t happy with the unexpected detour on the Trump-backed bill.

“The America First agenda needs more team players,” Georgia U.S. Rep. Mike Collins said.