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Democratic San Antonio Congressman Joaquin Castro on Wednesday weighed in on what he called President Donald Trump's "big, bad bill."
Trump calls it a "big, beautiful bill." But Castro said if it passes on Capitol Hill, it will set back the state's clean energy industry and puts Pell Grants at risk for college students.
He said 30,000 college students in his district alone rely on those grants.
Castro said electric vehicles will become less affordable and commitments to clean energy are scaled back in "just about every form."
He added that the largely Republican-backed bill's impact on Medicaid could close rural hospitals and hurt the health care of 1.7 million Texans and millions more across the country.
"They're putting up obstacles for people to get Medicaid and it's creating more of an administrative burden, not just for the state, but also for people who are having to fill out paperwork. They're basically hoping to trip people up, so that they can get kicked out of the Medicaid program."
Castro said Trump has firm control over Capitol Hill Republicans who have a choice to make.
"I think many of them are scared that they will lose their careers if they vote no and cross Donald Trump, and so really, unfortunately, it comes down for them to a choice between saving their careers and saving people's lives," he said.
Castro said the bill will result in the biggest wealth transfer from lower income Americans to the wealthiest and largest corporations.
The Democrat was not alone in his opposition to the legislation.
Republican San Antonio Congressman Chip Roy is also opposed to the bill because it increases the national deficit by a few trillion dollars.
Roy — whose district includes San Antonio, Austin, and the Hill Country — is a member of the House Rules Committee.
"My colleagues in the Senate failed us," Roy told the committee during a tense hearing on Tuesday after the Senate narrowly passed the bill that includes $4 trillion in tax cuts. It would also increase the federal deficit by nearly $3.3 trillion over the next decade.
"If we're going to do the tax policy, at least do the spending policy," Roy said. "Have the courage and the fortitude to do what you campaign on when you're talking about balancing the dang budget."
In an interview with Politico after the hearing, Roy called the bill "garbage." He said it was a betrayal of a framework House conservatives worked out earlier this year with no new deficit spending.
Roy did not respond to TPR's request for comment on Wednesday.
