Texas Congressman Keith Self says there is beauty and beast in President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill.”
TEXAS, USA — President Donald Trump calls the tax and spending bill he signed into law on July 4 “One Big Beautiful Bill.”
Just before the vote, Congressman Keith Self, R-3rd District, called it a “broken bill.” But the next day, he voted for it. And the Collin County Republican now says there is beauty and beast all in one bill.
“Every family in North Texas would have seen a $1,500 or so tax increase if we had not done that. That’s the beauty of this bill,” Self told us on Inside Texas Politics. “The beast in this bill is unless you assume a lot of growth and a lot of tariff income, and I mean a lot, this is going to add to the deficit and the debt.”
In fact, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office says the legislation will add nearly $3.3 trillion to the federal deficit over the next decade.
When it comes to his vote, Self says it wasn’t a change of heart, but instead hard-fought negotiations that convinced him to vote for the bill. Self argues that the Freedom Caucus and other conservatives fought for, and won, a number of concessions in the bill.
One example he pointed to was President Trump’s recent executive order that will speed up the elimination of green tax credits provided under former President Joe Biden. The final tax and spending bill said green energy companies, such as wind and solar farms, had to be up and running by 2027 to receive the tax credits. But the legislation would have allowed a company to claim the credits if they simply started construction in the next 12 months, which angered many conservatives. President Trump’s executive order now says a “substantial portion” of the facility must be built to receive the credits, meaning far fewer projects will qualify.
But Self also told us he couldn’t discuss many of the other deals, which he calls “significant commitments,” because he doesn’t want to get ahead of Republican leadership and White House messaging.
The legislation includes around $4.5 trillion in tax cuts, extending many enacted during President Trump’s first term.
But in order to pay for the tax cuts and other boosts in spending, such as $350 billion for border and national security, there are steep cuts to Medicaid and SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, nearly 12 million Americans would lose their insurance by 2024, while three million more would no longer qualify for SNAP benefits, or food stamps.
Self argues that, generally speaking, those losses comprise only two groups: illegal immigrants and abled-bodied adults.
“And then you’ve got the able-bodied Americans that are not supposed to be on Medicaid that are not working. They’re cashing their government checks and playing video games. They should come off and join the economy, get a job, and contribute to the economy rather than cashing their government checks,” said the lawmaker.
Because he supported the legislation and backed away from his opposition, Self has received some criticism from his far-right flank.
The Republican says he’s selling the legislation to constituents back home by arguing it will help every taxpaying family in North Texas.
And he does not think his vote will harm him during next year’s midterm election.
“Nobody likes to watch the sausage being made. But there was enough in this bill for everyone to hate,” the Republican relayed. “But generally speaking, we had to get the beauty across the line. We had to rein in the beast. That’s the bottom line.”
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