(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump secured a major legislative victory when what he had been calling his “big, beautiful bill” became law in July. However, Trump and Republicans are now working to shift the messaging surrounding the bill ahead of next year’s midterm elections.
And helping lead that shift is Vice President JD Vance.
During his Cabinet meeting in August, Trump acknowledged that the title of his signature legislation does not explain what’s actually in the bill.
“So, the bill that — I’m not going to use the term, “great big beautiful,” that was good for getting it approved. But — but it’s not good for explaining to people what it’s all about,” Trump said.
Trump continued, saying the bill is “a massive tax cut for the middle class. It’s a massive tax cut for jobs.”
Trump has tasked Vance with traveling the country and pitching tax cuts for working families to American voters, a source familiar with the plan confirmed to ABC News.
The vice president has traveled to multiple states, including critical battleground states of Wisconsin and Georgia, where he has pushed out the new framing of the bill, calling it the “Working Families Tax Cut.”
“And most importantly, if you’re working hard every single day right here in the United States, or if you’re building a business right here in the United States, you ought to have a tax code that rewards you instead of punishes you,” Vance said during an event outside of Atlanta in late August. “And that’s what happened when we passed the working families tax cut just a couple of months ago.”
A recent Pew Research Center poll conducted in early August found that 46% of adults disapprove of the legislation while only 32% approve. Twenty-three percent said they were unsure.
Missouri Sen. Eric Schmitt, an ally of the president and vice president, said an issue Republicans had with messaging the bill was the ability to discuss the tax cuts in the legislation.
Schmitt told ABC News that Trump is the bill’s messenger, but Vance is the individual selling the bill and his background allows him to connect with everyday Americans.
“President Trump is the messenger. He’s the guy, and Vice President Vance is kind of the traveling salesman, hitting the road and in key states, where, I think in particular, the vice president, his message, his story, has always resonated in places like Pennsylvania and Ohio and places like that,” Schmitt said. “We’ve got a lot of blue collar workers who are looking for tax relief and looking for a way to, you know, for the government to take less of their money.”
One of the biggest criticisms of the bill is the impact it will have on Medicaid. Estimates from the Congressional Budget Office project federal spending on Medicaid will be reduced by $1 trillion and the number of uninsured people will increase by nearly 12 million by 2034.
The cuts come from a number of programs and will be implemented at different points, from when the bill was enacted all the way through 2028 — meaning it will take years for the impacts to be fully realized.
But there are Republicans who argue that the changes to Medicaid strengthen the program for the most vulnerable. Schmitt also emphasized the importance of focusing on other aspects of the bill, including no taxes on overtime and no taxes on tips.
But Vance’s role as a “salesman” for Trump’s signature legislation shouldn’t come as a surprise and is familiar territory for the vice president. Matt Terrill, a political strategist and former chief of staff for then-Sen. Marco Rubio’s presidential campaign, told ABC News that Vance is being used in the same way he was during the 2024 election.
“This maps with how Vice President Vance was utilized on the campaign trail in 2024 and how he has been utilized in the White House so far. He has a strong ability to go on programs like the Sunday shows, podcasts, and other platforms to effectively champion President Trump’s policy positions,” Terrill said. “It’s a big responsibility, particularly given the economic benefits that have been highlighted by the White House that are included in the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ and the economy will be top of mind among Americans heading into the midterm elections.”
But Terrill cautioned that the success of the legislation ultimately comes down to how the policies impact Americans.
“For Vice President Vance, it comes down to him doing one of the things he does best — promoting the president’s agenda. However, with that said, there is only so much one person can do when it comes to promoting a law,” Terrill said. “In the end, it comes down to the American people feeling that the policies in the law are working for them.”
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