Vance warns of ‘penalty’ for Dems who opposed the ‘big, beautiful, bill’ ahead of 2026 midterms
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Vice President JD Vance said that anyone who opposed President Donald Trump‘s “one big, beautiful bill” should face consequences ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
The measure includes key provisions that would permanently establish individual and business tax breaks included in Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and incorporates new tax deductions to cut duties on tips and overtime pay.
All Democrats, along with five Republicans in both the House and the Senate, voted against the massive tax and domestic policy bill. However, Trump signed it into law on July 4.
“Anybody who voted against it, I think they ought to pay a penalty,” Vance said Monday in Canton, Ohio. “Because they voted against all those great things for the people of Akron and the people of Northeastern Ohio.”
“The craziest thing is if you’re a Democrat and you don’t like this legislation, then come and talk to us,” Vance said. “Make some proposed changes. Tell us ‘You know, this provision isn’t so good. We’d like to change it a little bit, and if we change it, then I can get to yes.’ This is the process of government. And these guys didn’t even come to the White House and try to make their concerns known. They didn’t try to make the legislation better. They just attack, attack, attack.”
Vance then said he believed Democrats don’t care about grocery prices, whether employees receive a raise or not, or if Americans are even employed in the first place.
“Their obsession in government is letting illegal aliens into this country, and attacking Donald J. Trump,” Vance said. “I don’t think the American people should reward that broken style of politics, and I don’t think they’re going to come November 2026.”
Vance’s remarks come as he champions the “big, beautiful bill,” with Republicans looking to defend their slim House majority — and potentially pick up a few seats — in the high-stakes 2026 midterm elections.
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Vance visited Pennsylvania’s 8th District on July 16, when he praised the measure and offered support for the district’s Republican representative, Rep. Rob Bresnahan, who was elected in 2024 and is in a vulnerable seat.
Vance is also slated to speak at fundraisers for the Republican National Committee on Tuesday in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and Big Sky, Montana, Axios first reported.
Among those who voted against the “big, beautiful bill” in Ohio was Rep. Emilia Sykes, who represents Canton, where Vance spoke on Monday. Sykes is in a vulnerable district as well and barely secured a victory over her opponent in the 2024 election by 2.2 percentage points, according to The New York Times.
A spokesperson for Vance doubled down on the vice president’s remarks on Monday and pointed to a new Wall Street Journal poll released on Friday that found that 63% of voters hold a negative view towards Democrats, and only 33% hold a favorable one – a new low since 1990.
“The Democrats just hit their lowest approval rating in 35 years, and all they can do is distract voters from the enormous wins the Trump administration is racking up,” a Vance spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Voters are sick of Democrat politicians constantly blowing hot air. Meanwhile, the vice president is visiting contested House districts around the country selling the substantive provisions in the president’s landmark One Big Beautiful Bill.”
A Fox News poll released this month revealed that a majority of voters oppose the “big, beautiful bill.” The poll, which was conducted between July 18 and 21, found that 58% of all registered voters oppose the measure, while 39% approve of it.
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No Democrats got on board backing the “big, beautiful bill,” joined by Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, and Rand Paul of Kentucky and Republican Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania.
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House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., labeled the bill “cruel” during floor remarks that lasted hours on July 3, pointing to Medicaid and SNAP reforms that reports suggest would remove millions of beneficiaries from the programs.
“What is contemplated in this one big, ugly bill is wrong. It’s dangerous, and it’s cruel, and cruelty should not be either the objective or the outcome of legislation that we consider here in the United States House of Representatives,” Jeffries said.