The New York Times’ Chief Washington Correspondent on “The Big Beautiful Bill.”
The Bill Press Pod
BP Pods
4.7 • 601 Ratings
🗓️ 8 July 2025
⏱️ 33 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this episode of the Bill Press Pod, Bill reconnects with Carl Hulse, Chief Washington Correspondent for the New York Times, to discuss The Big Beautiful Bill recently forced through Congress. They compare it to the fights around the passage of The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and highlight the legislative muscle required, including Vice President's critical tie-breaking votes. The bill, encompassing Medicaid cuts to border security, faced criticism for bypassing traditional processes. They delve into the political ramifications, with Republicans like Josh Hawley and Tom Tillis grappling with the bill's implications while nearly all Republicans caved to political pressure from Trump. The pod also addresses the bill's potential impact on the national deficit and how Democrats could leverage this in future elections. Additionally, the influence of figures like Elon Musk on the legislative process and Trump's ongoing impact on the Republican Party are examined.
Today Bill highlights the work of Jose Andres and the World Central Kitchen now providing food to the people in the Texas Hill Country recovering from the flash flood disaster. More information at WCK.org
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Good day, good friends. Good to see you back here on the Bill Press pod. |
| 0:11.0 | Well, we knew it was going to happen. We knew that despite all the bitching and moaning from so-called fiscal conservative Republicans, |
| 0:19.0 | Donald Trump was going to get his big, beautiful |
| 0:22.4 | bill, and we knew he'd be able to sign it with fanfare on July 4 the day he wanted to. |
| 0:28.9 | Why? Because it wasn't a bill as much as it was a pledge of loyalty to Donald Trump. His message |
| 0:35.5 | to Republicans in Congress was clear. It doesn't matter what's in the |
| 0:39.0 | bill. You don't even need to read it. If you're for me, vote for it. If you don't, you're my enemy |
| 0:44.9 | forever, and I'll destroy you next time you're up for re-election. And sadly, only two Republicans |
| 0:51.8 | in the House and three in the Senate had the courage to stand up to Trump. |
| 0:57.8 | Now, in the short term, no doubt, it's a short-term win for Donald Trump and Maga. |
| 1:03.7 | But by dumping so many millions of Americans off of Medicaid and food stamps and adding trillions to the national debt, could it backfire |
| 1:13.1 | on Republicans in the long term? For a deep dive into the BBB today, we turn to the senior |
| 1:21.0 | member of the Congressional Press Corps, Carl Hulse, Chief Washington correspondent for the New York Times. |
| 1:28.4 | Carl Hulse, it's good to reconnect with you and welcome back to the Bill Press pod. |
| 1:33.2 | Thank you. |
| 1:34.3 | Hey, Carl, so you, I'm not going to say how many years you've been covering Congress, but this is a city. |
| 1:40.2 | Where are you? Okay, 40. |
| 1:41.8 | Have you ever seen, in all that time, a bill that's been hammered together and forced through like this big, beautiful bill was? |
| 1:50.6 | The only thing I kind of compare it to, and you'd probably have a different take on this, but the Affordable Care Act, if you remember, there was a lot of twist and turns with that bill, including, |
| 2:03.9 | you know, Senator Kennedy unfortunately passed. The Democrats had 60 seats for a while. They lost |
| 2:09.5 | their seat. You know, there was a bunch of deals made in the Senate. There was a Christmas Eve |
| 2:14.7 | vote in a blizzard. So that, that's one that's up there. |
... |
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