The top Democrat in the US House is holding a town hall Thursday in Louisiana, home to Republican Speaker Mike Johnson and his deputy, to rally against the health care cuts in the GOP bill that President Trump signed into law. Led by New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, Democrats are taking their case about Trump's signature second-term domestic policy priorities directly to the people with the event at Xavier University in Democratic-heavy New Orleans, outside the districts represented by Johnson in northwestern Louisiana and Majority Leader Steve Scalise in the city's suburbs and elsewhere, the AP reports.
Jeffries had said during a nearly nine-hour speech in the House before a final congressional vote last week that restrictions on health care and access to food aid in the tax breaks and spending cuts package were "immoral." He pledged that Democrats would "stand up and push back against it with everything we have," though the minority party was unable to prevent passage. Democratic leaders say the new law will sway voters before the 2026 midterm elections, when Democrats look to win control of the House and break the hold that Trump and the GOP have on Washington.
Ahead of the town hall Thursday, Scalise said Democrats who opposed the bill will have to explain to the people of Louisiana why they voted against tax breaks on tips and overtime and extending Trump's tax cuts, as well as other provisions he says will help the state. Democratic Rep. Troy Carter, the host, who represents much of New Orleans, told the AP before the town hall that Democrats are "coming in total honesty and transparency to the American people to talk about this bill and we've challenged our Republican counterparts to do the same. Their constituents will be harmed by this big ugly bill," Carter said.
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