{"id":41819,"date":"2025-06-10T12:35:48","date_gmt":"2025-06-10T19:35:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=41819"},"modified":"2025-06-10T12:35:49","modified_gmt":"2025-06-10T19:35:49","slug":"key-democrat-trump-musk-feud-exposes-gop-panic-could-derail-big-beautiful-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2025\/06\/10\/key-democrat-trump-musk-feud-exposes-gop-panic-could-derail-big-beautiful-bill\/","title":{"rendered":"KEY DEMOCRAT: TRUMP-MUSK FEUD EXPOSES GOP PANIC, COULD DERAIL \u2018BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Speaker<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

POSTED INPOLITICS AND MOVEMENTS: US<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Democratic Congressman John Garamendi says Republican confidence is fraying since the falling out between the two former political allies, causing more panic than meets the eye\u2014chaos he thinks might derail the \u2018Big Beautiful Bill.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BY\u00a0STEPHEN JANIS<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0AND\u00a0TAYA GRAHAM<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

JUNE 9, 2025 (therealnews.com)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., talks with reporters in the Capitol Visitor Center after a meeting of the House Republican Conference on Wednesday, June 4, 2025. Tom Williams\/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congressional Republicans are publicly brushing off the insults and fireworks between Elon Musk and Donald Trump as a social media spat that will not dent support for the \u2018Big Beautiful Bill.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, behind the scenes, a key Democrat says this posturing belies the chaos that has engulfed the party since Musk publicly denounced the legislation. In short, he says, Republicans are running scared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Republicans were leaving the floor as fast as they possibly could. They didn\u2019t want to talk to anybody. They wanted to get out of town,\u201d Democrat Congressman John Garamendi said shortly after a morning floor session Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cI suspect when they go back to their districts, they\u2019re going to hide in their closets,\u201d he added.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He thinks it\u2019s possible that fallout from the feud could impede the massive bill that will cut healthcare access for 10.9 million people and will undo critical tax credits for renewable energy, among other provisions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201c[The] Trump and Musk divorce is having a profound effect on the legislation,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019ll play out over the weekend as the Republicans go home. I assume they\u2019re going to talk to their constituents, maybe they\u2019ll just hide out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Garamendi is a California Democrat known for supporting progressive priorities and co-sponsoring legislation such as Medicare for All, student loan forgiveness, the Green New Deal and raising the federal minimum wage. He says conservatives are terrified of Musk and are unsure of how to proceed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cWhy are we giving a tax break to the super wealthy? You think they need it? They\u2019ve got more money they can possibly spend.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very clear for the three Republicans I talked to, they do not know what this is going to mean, but I can tell them what it means is that the reconciliation bill is in trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWill it cause the reconciliation bill to die? I hope so,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is not the first time the progressive stalwart has predicted Republican disarray. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In April, Garamendi argued that the Musk-Trump relationship would fracture and that the mayhem caused by DOGE or the Department of Government Efficiency would cause Republicans to distance themselves from the President.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRight now Republicans have a stonewall but it\u2019s breaking,\u201d he said at the <\/em>Hands Off protest in Washington, DC. \u201cThe pressure is being built by this crowd\u2026 it will manifest and Republicans will break away from Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just off the floor on Friday, he said his Republican colleagues did not want to talk about the messy split between Trump and Musk. He thinks the consequences from the very public falling out will play out when Congress is back in session. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNext week\u2019s going to be very, very important because this divorce is going to have an effect on the reconciliation legislation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u2018Big Beautiful Bill\u2019 is currently awaiting passage in the Senate, where it faces pushback from a variety of legislators, including fiscal hawks. The Congressional Budget Office estimated the legislation would add $2.4 trillion to the nation\u2019s debt if passed.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Garamendi said the bill is a disaster that gives tax cuts to the richest Americans at the expense of the working class. He believes if the bill makes it through the reconciliation process and into law, voters will punish Republicans in the 2026 midterms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy are we giving a tax break to the super wealthy? You think they need it? They\u2019ve got more money they can possibly spend.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t need to make the kind of cuts in healthcare, in food programs and international aid programs that are in that legislation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The current version of the bill would cut Medicaid spending by roughly $880 billion. The reduction in funding would be achieved by what Garamendi deemed burdensome red tape and work requirements that would entangle people who cannot afford health insurance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It would also end Obamacare-related subsidies, curtailing a program that now provides health insurance to 24 million Americans. Strangely, Republican members of congress have yet to acknowledge the impact this would have on their state budgets\u2014let alone their constituents dependent upon both healthcare programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Republican members of congress have yet to acknowledge the impact this would have on their state budgets\u2014let alone their constituents dependent upon both healthcare programs.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

To respond to the Republicans\u2019 massive legislative push, we asked Garamendi if Democrats were preparing a Project 2029 to counter Project 2025, the now-infamous conservative playbook that the Trump administration has been working to implement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Garamendi said he has been working with Democratic colleagues to craft a list of progressive priorities\u2014and that it was needed right now.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe were actually working on something. Project 2026,\u201d he said. \u201cWe need an overarching message in which the Democratic Party is a party that is for the working men and women of America, for the families of America.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We reached out to the office of House Speaker Mike Johnson for comment on Garamendi\u2019s remarks.\u00a0 They have yet to respond.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

STEPHEN JANISHOST AND PRODUCER<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Host & Producer<\/strong>
Stephen Janis is an award winning investigative reporter turned documentary filmmaker. His first feature film,\u00a0The Friendliest Town<\/em>\u00a0was distributed by Gravitas Ventures and won an award of distinction from The Impact Doc Film Festival, and a humanitarian award from The Indie Film Fest. He is the co-host and creator of\u00a0The Police Accountability Report<\/em>\u00a0on The Real News Network, which has received more than 10,000,000 views on YouTube. His work as a reporter has been featured on a variety of national shows including the Netflix reboot of\u00a0Unsolved Mysteries, Dead of Night<\/em>\u00a0on Investigation Discovery Channel,\u00a0Relentless<\/em>\u00a0on NBC, and\u00a0Sins of the City<\/em>\u00a0on TV One.More by Stephen Janis<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

TAYA GRAHAMHOST AND PRODUCER<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Host & Producer<\/strong>
Taya Graham is an award-winning investigative reporter who has covered U.S. politics, local government, and the criminal justice system. She is the host of TRNN’s “Police Accountability Report,” and producer and co-creator of the award-winning podcast “Truth and Reconciliation” on Baltimore’s NPR affiliate WYPR. She has written extensively for a variety of publications including the Afro American Newspaper, the oldest black-owned publication in the country, and was a frequent contributor to Morgan State Radio at a historic HBCU. She has also produced two documentaries, including the feature-length film “The Friendliest Town.” Although her reporting focuses on the criminal justice system and government accountability, she has provided on the ground coverage of presidential primaries and elections as well as local and state campaigns. Follow her on Twitter<\/a>.More by Taya Graham<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

POSTED INPOLITICS AND MOVEMENTS: US Democratic Congressman John Garamendi says Republican confidence is fraying since the falling out between the two former political allies, causing more panic than meets the eye\u2014chaos he thinks might derail the \u2018Big Beautiful Bill.\u2019 BY\u00a0STEPHEN JANIS\u00a0AND\u00a0TAYA GRAHAM JUNE 9, 2025 (therealnews.com) Speaker of the House… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41819"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41819"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41819\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41820,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41819\/revisions\/41820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}