Dave McCormick, John Fetterman split votes as Senate passes Trump’s sweeping ‘big, beautiful bill’

Sen. Dave McCormick’s win over Democratic former Sen. Bob Casey in November continues to paydividends for President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress.

Trump’s sweeping economic package narrowly passed the Republican-controlled Senate on Tuesday, with Vice President JD Vance casting a tiebreaking vote. And McCormick’s support, though never in question, was essential for Republicans to reach a 50-50 tie. Sen. John Fetterman, a Democrat, voted against the bill.

McCormick, a freshman Republican who campaigned with the president, had indicated early support for the tax and spending cuts bill, which re-ups Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, increases defense, energy production, and border security spending, and reduces federal spending on Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP.

» READ MORE: Proposed SNAP overhaul in Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ could cost Pa. $800 million

Vance also cast a tiebreaking vote in January for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, whose confirmation was supported by McCormick, while all Democrats and three GOP senators opposed.

While GOP leaders pushing the bill spent hours trying to convince holdouts like Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R., Alaska), who eventually backed the package, and Susan Collins (R., Maine), who did not, McCormick was a yes from the start. Three Republican senators voted against the bill.

The bill is projected by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to increase the deficit by $3.3 trillion, though Republicans have argued that assessment doesn’t take into account economic growth they say will result from the tax breaks.

Now, the revised bill returns to the House for consideration. Trump has set a deadline of getting the bill passed by the Fourth of July. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) instructed his members to prepare to begin voting July 2.

McCormick, in a statement shortly after passage, touted the extension of tax cuts and said the bill “delivers on many of the promises that both President Trump and I made — to secure our nation’s border and bolster our national defense to keep Americans safe, and to unleash American energy potential and lower costs for consumers.”

“No bill is perfect,” he added. “But these provisions will make a real difference in the lives of people working hard to make ends meet.”

McCormick, in an interview earlier this month, said he was satisfied that Medicaid reductions would not target the program’s most vulnerable recipients. The CBO estimates the Medicaid cuts will leave 11.8 million people uninsured by 2034.

“It’s the fastest growing entitlement program,” McCormick said. “This is an area that’s spiraling out of control. There are now people taking advantage of Medicaid that were never part of the design.”

» READ MORE: The ‘big, beautiful bill’ is poised to cut Medicaid. Here’s what’s at stake for five Philly-area families.

Fetterman, the state’s senior senator, had said for weeks he would oppose the bill, pointing specifically to the cuts to federal assistance programs. He joined all of his fellow Democrats in the Senate in voting against it.

“This bill is a disaster, which is why I voted HELL NO,” Fetterman said in a statement Tuesday, saying Republicans would “own the consequences.”

Fetterman, who took some heat for lamenting that the drawn-out voting process this week meant a missed family beach vacation, also criticized Republicans for rushing the vote toward a self-imposed deadline.

“My colleagues on the other side of the aisle wrote and passed this 940-page bill without giving us time to read it,” Fetterman said, adding he hopes House Republicans “put their constituents before campaign donors and shut this down.”

Sen. Chris Coons (D., Del.) had planned to attend rallies in Pennsylvania this week calling out the damage the bill could do to constituents in the nearby swing state.

“I know of no faith that teaches that we should take healthcare from seniors and the disabled, and food from hungry children,” Coons said in a statement. “That’s what almost every Republican in the Senate just voted to do. Making Americans hungrier, sicker, and poorer won’t make America great.”

Some Republicans expressed deep reservations about the spending cuts. Sen. Thom Tillis, (R., N.C.) became a target of Trump’s ire after saying he opposed the bill. He announced this week he would not seek reelection, and in a speech on the Senate floor told his Republican colleagues they were making a mistake by supporting the package.

“It is inescapable this bill will betray the promise Donald Trump made,” Tillis said. “I’m telling the president that you have been misinformed. You supporting the Senate mark will hurt people who are eligible and qualified for Medicaid.”

Democrats in the Philadelphia region have warned for months that the bill could have an outsize impact on a city with a high poverty rate, where hundreds of thousands of residents rely on SNAP and Medicaid.

» READ MORE: Gov. Josh Shapiro said he’s not sure SNAP will be able to exist in Pa. under President Trump’s megabill

Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro has warned that of the 3 million Pennsylvanians enrolled in SNAP, 140,000 could lose benefits. On Monday Shapiro went so far as to question whether SNAP could continue to exist in the state amid the changes.

Shapiro’s office also estimated 310,000 of the 3 million Pennsylvanians who receive Medicaid would lose the benefit should the cuts proceed.

Rep. Brendan Boyle, the ranking member of the House Budget Committee, also blasted GOP members of Congress and noted the impact he worries the bill could have in Pennsylvania, while still adding trillions to the deficit. “It is morally wrong and economically reckless,” he said.

McCormick said Democrats have inflated the figures of who could be impacted as he defended the cuts in an interview with The Inquirer earlier this month.

“I think the key is slowing spending in Medicaid by surgically removing people that shouldn’t be eligible for it,” he said.