Dear Fourth District Constituent,
We’ve all heard that nothing good happens after 10pm. What about 1:00am? That’s when House Republicans scheduled a key committee hearing on Wednesday morning. You read that correctly. 1:00am. Why would anyone schedule a meeting in the dead of night? Usually, it’s because they’re up to no good, or they have something to hide. In this case it was both. Republicans chose 1:00am to meet and debate procedural rules necessary to advance President Trump’s top priority: the massive budget reconciliation tax and spending package, also known as The One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
While Republicans had clearly hoped no one would notice, Democrats showed up and asked questions. For more than 20 hours on Wednesday, Democrats united to drag Republicans’ midnight markup into the daylight. We unearthed more alarming facts about the Republican scheme:
- It cuts household income for the poorest Americans by 4% while handing a 2% increase in income to the richest 10 percent
- It puts more than 18 million kids at risk of losing their school meals
- It could lead to $500 billion in cuts to Medicare
That’s on top of what we already knew — their bill makes devastating Medicaid and SNAP cuts that will kick nearly 14 million Americans off their healthcare and take food assistance away from millions of kids, seniors, and people with disabilities.
House Republicans rushed this bill through because they didn’t want the American people to learn how devastating it really is. Sadly, early Thursday morning, Republicans succeeded, managing to pass their bill by a vote of 215-214. Every House Democrat opposed their bill. The legislation now goes to the Senate for their consideration.
WASHINGTON, D.C. UPDATE
The Ugly Truth: Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill' Takes Away Food & Health Care From Minnesotans
The ugly truth of Donald Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ is that it strips away health care from 20,000 Minnesotans with disabilities, seniors, children, and working parents in Minnesota’s 4th Congressional District – that’s the equivalent of every resident of Stillwater losing their health care overnight. The ugly truth is that 45,000 Minnesotans will go hungry without the SNAP food assistance they rely on – the equivalent of every resident of Maplewood going to bed hungry and waking up hungry. The ugly truth is that Donald Trump and his Congressional Republican followers are cutting health care and food access for the most vulnerable Minnesotans to give permanent tax breaks to billionaires like Elon Musk and corporations who currently don’t pay their fair share. In fact, some large corporations pay $0 in taxes. In short, the ugly truth about the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ is that it’s just another Trump GOP Tax Scam.
Under the Trump GOP Tax Scam, the average family earning less than $50,000 would get under $300 in tax cuts in 2027, less than $1 a day, while a filer earning $1,000,000 or more would receive about $90,000 in permanent tax breaks. The more the American people learn about this ugly legislation, the more they dislike it, which is why the House Republican majority advanced it through key committees during dead-of-the-night hearings and rushed the floor vote through while most Americans were sleeping.
It was easy to vote no on this bill. Leading with my Minnesota values and representing the voice of my community, I will oppose any Republican efforts to cut Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, Veterans’ benefits, and nutrition assistance for Minnesota families, especially when they’re made in service to millionaires and billionaires.
All this happened as President Trump continues to commit economic malpractice. His reckless and senseless tariff wars are hitting hard as we’re seeing higher prices at the pump, at the grocery store, and while shopping online. Trump’s erratic actions have called into question whether the rest of the world should have faith in the United States to repay its debts, leading Moody's to downgrade our nation's credit rating. This makes it more expensive to borrow money and means that more of your tax dollars will be spent on debt interest payments and less on improving the government services that our communities rely on.
Supporting the Men and Women Serving in the National Guard and Reserves
Serving our nation in addition to managing a civilian job — and in many cases supporting a family, too — is one of the highest forms of service. On Tuesday, I heard from our National Guard and Reserves leadership about how best to support our citizen soldiers and their families.
Congresswoman McCollum provides opening remarks Tuesday during a House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense hearing with leaders from the National Guard and Reserves.
Holding Trump’s Interior Department Accountable
During a Tuesday hearing of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, House Democrats pushed back on the devastating cuts proposed by President Trump that would cut rangers in our National Parks, scientific research from our water managers, and school reconstruction for Native American children.
I directly pressed Interior Secretary Burgum to commit to ensuring DOGE doesn't take a chainsaw to the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (MNRRA). DOGE proposed shuttering MNRRA's staff headquarters and its Visitor Center, which is an amazing resource for our National Park Service located in the Science Museum of Minnesota. I wrote a letter in April with Representatives Craig, Morrison, and Omar asking Secretary Burgum to keep these leases active, and after committing to do so in the hearing, we received official confirmation on Wednesday that MNRRA's leases would stay in place.
MINNESOTA UPDATE
Join Me for a Town Hall on May 31
Please join me and a panel of special guests for a town hall meeting on Saturday, May 31, 2025 from 11am-12pm to discuss the importance of Medicaid for Minnesota seniors, children, and working parents.
Space is limited. Please RSVP
here by Thursday, May 29, 2025 at 12pm to receive location and further details. This town hall will also be live-streamed. Your feedback is important. Together, we can stand up for a healthy future for all Minnesotans.
Now Accepting Applications for the 2025 Congressional App Challenge
I’m excited to announce my office’s participation in the 2025 Congressional App Challenge! Middle and high school students in the Fourth District with an interest for coding are encouraged to create and submit an app to solve a problem, or provide education or entertainment. Learn more about the rules and important deadlines
here.
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