Sewell is critical of the Trump budget proposal

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congresswoman Terri Sewell (D-AL07) recently spoke before a hearing of the House Ways and Means Committee during the markup of President Donald J. Trump's (R) proposed federal budget.

Sewell complained that the legislation provides more than $4 trillion in tax cuts over the next decade while slashing $715 billion from Medicaid and $290 billion from SNAP benefits.

"We are here because-according to President Trump, Elon Musk, and Republicans in Congress-the wealthiest individuals and the largest corporations in our country are not wealthy enough," said Rep. Sewell. "This committee could be working to help Americans deal with the high cost of living. We could be working to make healthcare more accessible and more affordable. We could be working to strengthen Social Security. And of course, we could be working to support our small businesses who are reeling from President Trump's reckless tariffs."

"But what we're doing instead? At the direction of President Trump, we are marking up a bill that would give $4 trillion worth of tax giveaways to the wealthy, the well-connected, and the well-off," said Sewell. "And how are we going to pay for it? Not by reducing the billions of dollars we spend to subsidize the oil industry. No. Instead, my Republican colleagues would rather kick 14 million Americans off their health care, cut off food stamps and food assistance for hungry families, and bankrupt our small businesses because of this tariff war. It's outrageous and it's unacceptable."

"I am a hard NO on this bill," said Sewell. "Actually, I'm a HELL NO on this bill."

While millionaires and billionaires will be the biggest beneficiaries if the 2017 tax cuts are allowed to expire (as they pay the most in taxes), 80% of Americans will see a tax increase on January 1, 2026. The standard deduction used by over 90% of taxpayers will be cut in half. The Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) would impact another 7.3 million taxpayers. Republicans also want to end the income tax on tips and end tax on overtime that blue collar workers pay.

"Republicans MUST UNITE behind, "THE ONE, BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL!" Not only does it cut Taxes for ALL Americans, but it will kick millions of Illegal Aliens off of Medicaid to PROTECT it for those who are the ones in real need," said President Trump on Truth Social. "The Country will suffer greatly without this Legislation, with their Taxes going up 65%. It will be blamed on the Democrats, but that doesn't help our Voters. We don't need "GRANDSTANDERS" in the Republican Party. STOP TALKING, AND GET IT DONE! It is time to fix the MESS that Biden and the Democrats gave us. Thank you for your attention to this matter!"

Democrats are not working with the Trump administration to keep the government funded. Republican holdouts are refusing to support the bill unless Trump agrees to deeper cut to Medicaid.