Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio), who in May voted against the House GOP’s version of President Trump’s megabill, said Wednesday that he’s a “yes” on the Senate-passed legislation.
“I got to say, no one puts a deal together like President Trump, he’s a master. But I think one of the other persuasive things was just looking at the Democrats’ reaction to it,” he said.
“Maybe the bill is better than I thought. Democrats’ reaction helped me persuade that, wow, maybe this bill does, does do some really good things.”
Davidson said he spoke with Trump a “couple times before changing” his vote.
Davidson previously opposed the House bill for not being more aggressive in cutting spending.
He was one of two Republicans to vote “no” when the House passed the measure in May, 215-214. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) also opposed the bill, while Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris (R-Md.) voted “present.”
But some House conservatives have strongly criticized the Senate plan, which they say would add hundreds of billions of dollars more to the nation’s deficits than the House plan would. Deficit hawks this week threatened to tank a procedural vote on advancing the bill, and the House is in a holding pattern as GOP leadership works to win them over.
Discussing his decision to back the new plan, Davidson said, “I think the reality is I wanted to give us a chance to get a better product.”
“The time hasn’t been used as well as I wish it would have been. There are some things that people negotiated for and made progress. I mean, the SALT got less expensive,” he said, referring to the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap.
“In some ways, the Medicaid reforms got more aggressive, which is, to me, a good thing,” Davidson said.
“I think this is probably the best product we can get, and I want to do as much as I can to help President Trump and the team get this bill across the finish line.”