The One Big Beautiful Bill Act — a national budget bill that includes many of the key policies of President Donald Trump’s (R) second term agenda — has now been sent to the President’s desk where it is expected to be signed into law on Independence Day.
After hours of voting and debating on the chamber floor — including a nearly nine hour speech from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries Thursday morning — HR 1 was officially approved in a vote of 218–214, without support from either of Maine’s Democratic representatives.
Earlier in the week, Vice President J.D. Vance was called into the Senate to cast a tie-breaking vote after both of Maine’s senators voted against the bill.
Following the Big Beautiful Bill’s final passage, both Rep. Jared Golden (D) and Rep. Chellie Pingree (D) issued statements speaking out against the legislation.
“This year, we had a real opportunity to pass a budget that put the middle class first,” said Rep. Golden, referring to it as the Big Bad Bill. “The reality of slim majorities in both chambers of Congress should have created an incentive to work across the aisle.”
“The parties could have worked together to extend middle-class tax cuts without giveaways to corporations and the wealthy,” he said. “We could have built on the success of $35 insulin and Medicare drug price negotiations to make health care more affordable. We could have reduced the deficit — something both parties agree should be a priority.”
“Instead, from the very beginning, this GOP majority has used a broken, partisan process where the only choices put on the floor seemed to be ‘bad’ or ‘worse,'” Golden argued.
“As a result, we have a law that will take health care away from tens of thousands of Mainers, close rural hospitals across the country, and blow up the national debt — all to pay for tax cuts that mostly benefit those at the top,” he said. “While I am proud to join the entire Maine delegation in voting against this bill, the truth is Mainers will suffer because of this partisan, harmful budget.”
Rep. Pingree also issued a lengthy and scathing statement about the passage of HR 1, calling it “dangerous” and “unforgivable.”
“Today, the House passed the most harmful, heartless, and regressive bill I’ve seen in my time in Congress,” Pingree said. “It’s difficult to overstate the scale of devastation this legislation will unleash on families across the country.”
“This bill represents one of the largest wealth transfers in American history,” she said, in part. “They’re willing to sacrifice the health and wellbeing of hardworking Americans, struggling families, and marginalized communities to make the rich ever richer. It’s deeply immoral and needlessly cruel.”
“And let’s not forget the absurd political vendettas and pet projects tucked in the bill,” she continued, “like raising taxes on clean energy, showering the oil and gas industry with subsidies, building the President’s so-called ‘Garden of Heroes’, and moving the Space Shuttle Discovery to Texas.”
“It hands ICE over $75 billion—more than we spend in a year on the Marine Corps or medical research–to create a sprawling, secretive deportation force and a vast network of detention centers, enriching private prison companies while subjecting immigrant communities to unfathomable fear and suffering,” she said.
“The impact of this legislation here in Maine will be devastating,” wrote Pingree. “Tens of thousands could lose access to health care and food assistance. We’re already seeing the closure of hospitals and clinics across the state. This bill puts even more pressure on our state’s already strained health infrastructure.”
“And immigrants in our communities—many of whom have already survived unimaginable hardship and who contribute actively to our communities and local economies—will be forced to live in even greater fear of being detained or disappeared,” she added.
“That Speaker Johnson chose to keep the procedural rule vote open for hours last night while holdouts made backroom deals with the President on their own pet issues, forcing debate on the bill into the dead of night, underscores the chaos that has defined this process from the very beginning,” said Pingree.
“Leader Jeffries’ extraordinary floor speech today laid bare just how dangerous and damaging this bill truly is, and how Republicans are betraying the people they represent,” she continued. “Meanwhile, it’s clear from the President’s own comments that he doesn’t even know what’s in his signature legislation, or that it will kick 17 million people off their health care. The ignorance and apathy on display is staggering.”
“This bill is not about helping everyday Americans. It’s an assault on the working class, a gift to the ultra-wealthy, a climate disaster, and a ticking time bomb for the economy,” she concluded. “It’s shameful. It’s dangerous. And it’s unforgivable.”
Click Here to Read Rep. Pingree’s Full Statement
Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) also spoke out in opposition to the bill in a statement released Thursday.
“The President may call it the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ – but there’s nothing beautiful about it,” she said. “There is certainly nothing pretty about denying food to hungry children, preventing Maine people from seeing their doctor, or preventing a doctor from being paid.”
“This ugly, purely partisan bill, rushed to meet the president’s artificial deadline, will have devastating consequences for Maine people, our hospitals, our rural communities, our economy, our energy costs, and our balanced state budget,” Gov. Mills said.
“As I have previously warned, like many other states, the State of Maine simply cannot absorb the substantial shift in costs that this bill will place on the backs of our children, families, seniors, and veterans to finance a tax cut for the very wealthy,” she continued.
“In the coming weeks, my Administration will review the final language of this bill to determine the full scope of the damage that it will cause to our state, including its impact to our otherwise balanced state budget,” said Mills.
Click Here to Read Gov. Mills’ Full Statement
Contrary to this, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt spoke very highly of the reconciliation bill approved Thursday afternoon, highlighting its expected benefits.
“President Trump’s One Big, Beautiful Bill delivers on the commonsense agenda that nearly 80 million Americans voted for – the largest middle-class tax cut in history, permanent border security, massive military funding, and restoring fiscal sanity,” she said.
“The pro-growth policies within this historic legislation are going to fuel an economic boom like we’ve never seen before,” she added. “President Trump looks forward to signing the One Big, Beautiful Bill into law to officially usher in the Golden Age of America.”
“Again and again,” said the White House, “Democrats tried to block historic tax relief, increased border security, higher wages, an expanded Child Tax Credit, No Tax on Tips, No Tax on Overtime, No Tax on Social Security, savings accounts for newborns, and so much more — but again and again, President Trump and Republicans fought and won for the American people.”
