House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and other leaders said on July 1 that every Democrat in the chamber will vote against the Republican-led budget megabill, calling it a threat to health care access, food assistance, and the broader economy.
Jeffries said in a separate press conference on the same day that the bill would eliminate health coverage for 17 million Americans, reduce funding for Medicaid, Medicare, and the Affordable Care Act, and raise out-of-pocket costs for those on private insurance.
The bill “will set in motion a potential economic death spiral by increasing the nation’s debt by more than $3 trillion,” Jeffries said on Tuesday, calling it “dangerous and extreme.”
“House Democrats are going to do everything we can over the next few hours, today, tomorrow, for the balance of this week, and beyond to stop this bill from ever becoming law,” he added.
The legislation, which passed the Senate 51–50 with Vice President JD Vance casting the tie-breaking vote, has returned to the House for final approval. Jeffries said Democrats are united in opposition and will use all available procedural tools to try to block the bill.
“All we need are four House Republicans to join us in defense of their constituents,” Jeffries said at a Tuesday press conference alongside other Democratic leaders in the House.
“We will suffer mightily from this bill. Children will be hurt. Families will be hurt. People with disabilities will be hurt.”
Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) said the bill would amount to the largest health care cuts in U.S. history and called it a major transfer of wealth from working families to top earners.
“It kicks 17 million Americans off of their health care,” Clark said. “It threatens hundreds of hospitals with closure, along with a quarter of all nursing homes. It hikes the cost of electricity. It hands a 3 percent pay cut to hardworking people and hands their children $5 trillion in debt.”
Democrats also said the bill would reduce access to food assistance through cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly referred to as food stamps. Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) said the bill would cut $200 billion from SNAP, which she noted primarily serves children, seniors, and people with disabilities.
“Instead of taking food away from tens of millions of Americans, we should protect and strengthen basic needs—programs like SNAP—so that food assistance is always there when we need it,” Craig said.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said he is “very hopeful” the House will approve the bill but acknowledged divisions in the GOP conference.
President Donald Trump, who personally lobbied senators for votes, has continued to push for passage of the bill.
The final vote is expected in the House as early as July 2.
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