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Republican San Antonio Congressman Chip Roy's last-minute flip on the "big, beautiful bill" helped push it through in the U.S. House on Thursday.
As late as Wednesday, Roy was leaning no, primarily because of the bill's boost to the national deficit by a few trillion dollars.
Protestors unsuccessfully tried to keep Roy's vote from changing to yes with their gathering outside his local office during a noon protest.
Among those outside his office building at U.S. 281 and Thousand Oaks was Chris Welde, a member of the rapid response team from Bexar County Democrats who spoke to TPR.
"The cuts to Medicaid, veteran's benefits, SNAP, are going to be devastating," she said. "I mean we're already one of the worst in the country in terms of health," she said of San Antonio.
Welde said President Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson are misleading Americans when they say they are cutting fraud and not benefits. She said it's not individuals committing major fraud, but rather big medical corporations.
Seventy-seven-year-old Vietnam veteran Ray Raymond, dressed in military fatigues, was there too.
"This cut means that, perhaps, they're going to try to cut back benefits veterans have earned with their blood," he said.
One protester held a sign that read "You betrayed the American people. Karma is coming."
TPR did not hear back from Roy after reaching out to him on Wednesday.
