Hours before he cast the tie-breaking vote on a major tax and spending bill in the Senate, Vice President J.D. Vance attempted to reframe the debate over the legislation.
Instead of thinking about the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) as a matter of fiscal policy that's primarily aimed at extending the 2017 personal income tax cuts, Vance said lawmakers should see it as a crucial piece of the Trump administration's ongoing immigration enforcement efforts.
The fiscal policy debate—including big details like how much the bill adds to the deficit and how Republicans are trying to hide those consequences—is "immaterial compared to the ICE money and immigration enforcement provisions," Vance wrote on X. "The thing that will bankrupt this country more than any other policy is flooding the country with illegal immigration and then giving those migrants generous benefits. The OBBB fixes this problem. And therefore it must pass."
