Cuellar, Gonzalez, explain their votes against ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act’

LAREDO, Texas – Congressmen Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez have explained why they voted President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act. They said it would leave South Texans sicker, hungrier, and poorer while allowing the ultra-rich to continue to line their pockets.

The bill, which still has to pass the U.S. Senate, would extend the 2017 Trump tax cuts and cut $1.5 trillion in federal spending, including through Medicaid work requirements and the repeal of the Inflation Reduction Act tax credits. 

The legislation passed the House on a 215-214 vote, with two Republicans — Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Warren Davidson of Ohio joining Democrats in voting “no.” Republican Andy Harris of Maryland voted present.

Congressman Gonzalez, a Democrat from McAllen, said the House Republican Budget Bill that would strip almost 14 million Americans off their healthcare, including nearly 50,000 South Texans and add at least $3.8 trillion to the national deficit.  

“There is nothing ‘beautiful’ about a bill that lowers taxes for the ultra-rich on the backs of our senior citizens, our children, and our veterans,” Gonzalez said. “Ripping away health insurance, raising food prices nationwide, increasing the cost of education, harming our senior citizens, and hurting federal workers’ retirement is shameful and I will not stand for it.” 

Gonzalez pointed to an analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO). It estimates that 49,380 South Texans in the congressman’s district (TX 34) will lose their healthcare under the Republican budget. This includes people losing both Medicaid and Affordable Care Act (ACA) coverage.   

Republicans’ refusal to extend ACA tax credits will also spike health insurance costs for the 129,000 South Texans in TX 34 who rely on the ACA, Gonzalez claimed.

Additionally, he said, the budget cuts $500 billion in Medicare benefits, which breaks President Trump’s promise to not touch Medicare and triggers automatic cuts to critical programs that fund child abuse prevention, foster care and adoption services, and more.   

“The Republican budget plan also cuts Supplemental Nutrition Assistance, or SNAP benefits, which, according to the Urban Institute, would lead to as many as 1.4 million children losing access to free or reduced-price school meals nationwide,” a Gonzalez press release stated.

“These drastic cuts would devastate South Texas. 65,313 households in TX-34 (or 26.1% of total households in the district) are enrolled in SNAP, the highest out of any congressional district in Texas. SNAP cuts also harm struggling farmers and ranchers by reducing consumer demand for food products, which impacts their revenue and bottom line.”

Gonzalez said the House Republican Budget would also increase the price of education as it cuts access to Pell Grants and other federal student aid, jeopardizing the academic future of 4.4 million Pell grant recipients nationwide.

“Republicans’ justification for these excessive cuts to lifeline programs are to create a fiscally responsible budget. However, according to the latest CBO projections, their plan will increase the federal deficit by at least $3.8 trillion. This will worsen our economy’s health and hurt hardworking American households,” Gonzalez’s press release stated. “In short, the Republican budget will leave South Texans and Americans sicker, hungrier, and poorer while the ultra-rich continue to line their pockets.”

Congressman Cuellar, a Democrat from Laredo, had similar misgivings to Gonzalez. He said the House Republican Budget bill would raise costs for working families and make deep cuts to essential programs – including Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which includes school meals, and health coverage for millions of Americans.

“I voted against this bill because I believe it would harm families in my district,” Cuellarsaid. “No fiscally responsible budget adds $3.8 trillion to the national debt. That’s just not sustainable. I’ve supported responsible tax cuts in the past to help working families and small businesses. But that’s not what this bill does. It shifts the burden onto families who are just trying to get ahead while giving the biggest breaks to those who need them the least.”

Cuellarcontinued: “According to estimates, more than 43,000 people in my district (TX 28) could lose their health coverage – 34,000 through the Affordable Care Act and another 9,000 through Medicaid. Similarly, over 3.4 million Texans rely on SNAP to put food on the table. With 17% of Texas households already facing food insecurity, we can’t afford to cut back on school meals or nutrition assistance.

“These aren’t just numbers – they represent families, children, seniors, and individuals with disabilities who rely on these programs to get by. This is in addition to new tariffs driving up prices on groceries, clothing, home goods, and essential supplies families rely on every day.”

A press release from Cuellar said the Republican Budget bill is projected to raise taxes on low-income households, reduce Medicaid and SNAP funding by hundreds of billions of dollars, and remove key protections that help patients afford care. It would also limit states’ ability to respond to health emergencies and reduce provider funding that rural hospitals, nursing homes, and community clinics rely on to stay open, the press release said.

“This bill doesn’t reflect the values of Texas or the needs of working families,” Cuellarconcluded. “People in South Texas aren’t asking for special treatment, just a fair shot. That means protecting health care, investing in kids, and making sure tax policy is responsible and balanced.”

Republican perspective

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National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Zach Bannon said Cuellar and Gonzalez were wrong. He said their vote would raise taxes by 22 percent, kill seven million jobs, slash the child tax credit, allow 1.4 million undocumented immigrants to take advantage of SNAP and Medicaid, cut $65 billion in border security funding, and take away more than $150 billion from the military.

“Henry Cuellar’s radical vote is unacceptable. Instead of doing his job and making his constituents’ lives better, he just voted to raise their taxes, take away their jobs, and undermine our national security. Texas voters will consistently be reminded of this betrayal all the way through next fall,” Bannon said.

“Vicente Gonzalez’s radical vote is unacceptable. Instead of doing his job and making his constituents’ lives better, he just voted to raise their taxes, take away their jobs, and undermine our national security. Texas voters will consistently be reminded of this betrayal all the way through next fall.”

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