Newhouse celebrates Trump spending bill vote. Lawmakers react to WA impact

A Washington Republican who has long been a target of President Trump’s ire helped close out a celebration of his massive spending bill on Thursday.

Dan Newhouse, R-Sunnyside, is the last Republican member of Congress who voted to impeach Trump in his first term. This week, Newhouse had a prominent place in saluting the defining legislation of the president’s first year back in office.

After Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” passed in the House, Newhouse embraced Speaker Mike Johnson before adjourning the session, allowing the bill to be sent to Trump’s desk to be signed into law.

Just last fall Trump endorsed two different candidates seeking to unseat the Central Washington representative. Since Trump won reelection though, Newhouse has been nearly lockstep with the party in promoting the president’s agenda.

In March, he pushed to have a Democrat punished for heckling Trump.

Newhouse released a statement after Thursday’s vote celebrating the passage of the bill, which will have an outsized impact on his district. The 4th Congressional District includes the Tri-Cities and Yakima and runs north to the Canadian border. It is home to the highest rates of Medicaid and SNAP recipients in all of Washington, and many of the rural hospitals that are now at risk of closure, according to state lawmakers.

Newhouse said that it was “by no means a perfect bill” but believes it will help Central Washington, while preventing tax increases. He previously worked to ensure tax credits for small modular nuclear reactors were safe in the legislation. He also worked to increase market access for farmers exporting their products.Congressman Dan Newhouse, R-Sunnyside, adjourns the House after approval of the “One Big Beautiful Bill.” House Clerk – United States House of Representatives

“Working families, small businesses, rural hospitals, and farmers across Central Washington have been at the top of my mind throughout this process,” Newhouse wrote. “For weeks since we first passed (House Resolution 1), I have heard from my constituents about the legislation’s benefits and downsides, and I have truly given serious thought to the legislation. This was a hard, thoroughly considered vote that I believe will benefit the people of my district.”

While the bill did include some limited protections for rural hospitals, experts say it’s not nearly enough. Newhouse said he also will use his position on the House Appropriations Committee to protect them. It’s unclear how he will do that.

Washington State Hospital Association President Cassie Sauer said in a news release earlier this week that the bill is a disaster for Washington state hospitals. She said protections added for rural hospitals were wholly inadequate, and will not save the already struggling healthcare facilities from closure as Medicaid cuts decimate their funding. Prosser Memorial Health and Lourdes in Pasco are designated as rural Critical Access Hospitals.

“Offering this as a solution is like punching someone in the face and then offering them a Band-Aid,” she said.

Newhouse’s praise for the bill was not shared by most other Washington state lawmakers. Sen. Patty Murray

Democrat Senator Patty Murray called the bill dystopian and a betrayal of the American people.

“Republicans’ Big, Ugly Betrayal Bill is the largest transfer of wealth from people who have the least, to the people who have the most, in our nation’s history. This bill is un-American and flat-out wrong,” Murray said in a statement.

“It’s impossible to overstate how devastating the Republican legislation will be for the millions of struggling families who will pay for these billionaire tax breaks with deep cuts to their health care and nutrition benefits, while getting essentially nothing in return,” she continued.

“Seventeen million Americans will lose their health insurance under this bill, including more than 328,000 people in Washington state who rely on Apple Health and Affordable Care Act coverage. 40 million Americans will see their grocery costs go up as the SNAP benefits they rely on to feed their families disappear. By defunding Planned Parenthood, this bill is a step toward Republicans’ dystopian plan for a Backdoor Nationwide Abortion Ban where women can’t get the health care they need, no matter what state they live in.

Murray also warned that the bill will cut clean energy programs, raise utility bills for families and eliminate millions of manufacturing jobs. She said these credits have been widely used in Central and Eastern Washington by farms to modernize their businesses and reduce their energy costs.

“Republicans chose to ignore every warning about how terrible this bill really is and force it through, over the objections of Democrats and even members of their own party, for no other reason than because Trump said so. In the end, the American people will have their voices heard and will show Republicans exactly how they feel about this monstrous bill at the ballot box.” Sen. Maria Cantwell

Senator Maria Cantwell, also a Democrat, called the bill “disastrous.”

“With the House green lighting President Trump’s goal of taking away health care access and food security for millions, many Americans are going to suffer, and every working family will see their costs go up,” Cantwell said in a statement.

“This law is the largest cut to Medicaid in history, which will raise costs for everyone’s health insurance. Hospitals, local elected officials from both parties, and everyday Americans all begged Republicans to make changes, but they refused,” she continued. “They stuck to their cruel plan to kick 17 million Americans off of their health insurance and take SNAP benefits away from millions of families – all so that billionaires and corporations could get another tax cut.” Gov. Bob Ferguson

Governor Bob Ferguson said in a statement that the bill will raise costs for every Washington family on SNAP. His office now estimates that 130,000 Washingtonians on the program won’t be able to meet new eligibility requirements and will lose access to the food stamp program.

“This bill takes food from our most vulnerable Washingtonians to give tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy,” Ferguson said. “This bill is only beautiful to billionaires.”

In addition to hurting nearly 1 million people in Washington, the SNAP changes will impact everyone in the state, Ferguson’s office said. Through a combination of loss of economic activity and burdening the state to increase its share of the cost to run the program, SNAP benefits will cost Washington state a minimum of $100 million more.

Ferguson also ripped into Republicans for approving an estimated $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts over the next decade. His statement singled out Newhouse and Rep. Michael Baumgartner, R-Spokane, due to the disproportionate impact the bill will have in their own districts.

Between these two districts, more than 500,000 in Central and Eastern Washington are on Medicaid, according to Ferguson’s office.

An estimated 250,000 Washington residents will lose Medicaid coverage and as many as 150,000 more will no longer be able to afford their private insurance through the state’s health care exchange. Rep. Michael Baumgartner

Michael Baumgartner, a first-term Republican representative from the 5th Congressional District, also supported the bill. Baumgartner’s district includes northern Franklin County and spans the eastern border of the state.

He said in a statement that Americans deserve a government that rewards work, drives growth and knows when to get out of the way.

“I’ve said it before: this bill isn’t a silver bullet. But it’s a bold, serious step toward getting our economy back on track and restoring real accountability in Washington, D.C..,” he said. “It’s a win for every American who wants safer streets, stronger communities, and a government that finally puts them first.”

Baumgartner also cited the added $50 billion for rural hospitals as a win for Eastern Washington.

“Strengthening care in our communities has always been personal to me,” he said. “And by finally reining in the wasteful spending Washington has ignored for too long, the bill reflects a serious commitment to responsible, results-driven government.” Rep. Kim Schrier

Kim Schrier, M.D., D-Sammamish, represents Washington’s 8th Congressional District, which stretches across the Cascade Mountains from King County to Chelan and Kittitas counties.

In a statement sent out after the vote, she decried the bill for ripping away healthcare from 17 million people over the next 10 years and the consequences it will have on the healthcare system.

“As a pediatrician, I have seen first hand how access to Medicaid can protect and even save the lives of children,” Schrier said. “Today, as I voted against this horrific bill, I thought of a constituent of mine, Ayla, a 4-year-old who is alive today because the rural hospital where she was born, Kittitas Valley Healthcare (KVH), could afford to have an Obstetrics Department and a Labor and Delivery unit. Support for those services is only possible because of support from Medicaid (Apple Health). “

Schrier said the bill will rip healthcare away from hundreds of thousands of people in Washington state and close hospitals and nursing homes, all to give billionaires a tax break.

“I will keep showing up and fighting back with everything I’ve got because Washington seniors, families, and children deserve better than this cruelty,” she said.