U.S. Rep. Mackenzie on 'Big, Beautiful' bill vote: 'We shouldn't be saying a work requirement is a negative thing.'

BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Hours after casting an essential vote for the Republican Party's "big beautiful bill" that would reallocate billions of federal dollars to fund tax breaks, U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie hailed the legislation as a boon for Lehigh Valley residents and the American economy.

"My focus from a tax perspective has been on working families and seniors. There are some really positive provisions in this legislation," the freshman Republican said in an interview with LehighValleyNews.com.

But his would-be congressional opponents are already accusing him of selling out low-income households to fund tax breaks for wealthy Americans. The liberal think tank Center for American Progress estimated that 20,000 people in Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District will lose health insurance coverage under the bill's current language.

None of those locals are illegally in the country; Pennsylvania limits Medicaid to legal residents.

"Ryan Mackenzie could have stopped this bill from passing, but he was too much of a coward to stand up for working families," said Carol Obando-Derstine, a Democrat who hopes to oppose him in the 2026 midterm elections.

1-vote margin of approval

Advocacy groups on both sides of the political spectrum have been pressuring lawmakers over the proposed One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which would codify many of President Donald Trump's domestic policies into law if passed.

It eked through the House Thursday morning by a 215-214 margin after an all-night debate. The 1,000-page legislation is now headed to the Republican-controlled Senate, where lawmakers have started discussing further amendments.

In the weeks leading up to the vote, Mackenzie withheld endorsing the package while voicing support for its overall aims.

Mackenzie said in nationaland local interviews that he would not back the bill if it rolled back Medicaid coverage for people who were covered before its expansion through the Affordable Care Act. Medicaid, he said, should continue to support children, pregnant women and disabled people.

In an interview Thursday, Mackenzie said this bill achieved those goals.

The federal government should not be picking up health care and food assistance costs for people illegally in the country and able-bodied individuals who choose not to work, he said.

Many companies are struggling to hire because past administrations have made it too easy to exit the workforce on the government's dime, he said.

"We want people to take advantage of these benefits and training programs that are out there and get re-engaged in the workforce," he said. "The value of work has dignity. We shouldn't be saying that a work requirement is a negative thing."

The bill also finances hiring more ICE and border patrol agents, one of his campaign promises in last year's congressional race.

"I was always keeping my powder dry to make sure the tax cuts for working families and seniors stayed in the bill, and ultimately, we got a lot of very positive wins to help people and give tax relief," Mackenzie said.

What it does

In its current form, the bill would:

• Commit $69 billiontoward hiring more border patrol and ICE agents and add more security infrastructure along the border;
• Increase the child tax credit by $500 to $2,500 through 2028;
• Extend Trump's 2017 tax cuts indefinitely;
• Raise the cap on federal deductions for state and local taxes to $40,000;
• Institute a $4,000 tax deduction for seniors earning less than $75,000;
• Exempt tips and overtime pay from federal taxes;
• Fund $1,000 savings accounts for children born between January 2025 and January 1, 2029;
• Cut Medicaid and CHIP coverage for 10.6 million people by 2034, mostly by adding work requirements;
• Make student loans more expensive by putting students on the hook for interest accrued while attending school;
• Increase the deficit by $3.8 trillion by 2034, an increase of about 11% from the current deficit total;
• Push an estimated 3.2 million people out of SNAP benefits, also known as food stamps, and require states to fund more of the program.

Mackenzie questioned some of the projections, particularly estimates by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office that the deficit would increase by $3.8 trillion.

He expressed interest in creating a separate independent body to estimate how legislation would impact the budget.

Vote bound to heighten political tensions

The proposed cuts to SNAP and Medicaid have drawn the ire of Democrats, including two who already are campaigning to oust Mackenzie from his battleground seat.

Protests outside Mackenzie's Salisbury Township office started almost immediately after it opened; the threatened cuts to Medicaid have been a frequent point of anger with demonstrators.

Obando-Derstine and Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure said the cuts would devastate society's most vulnerable people and the hospitals that serve them. Mackenzie's vote showed that his votes align with monied interests and not the people of Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District, they claimed.

"I'm glad he can't pretend to be a moderate anymore," said McClure, who launched his campaign in February. "He's giving tax cuts to billionaires while sticking it to working people."

Mackenzie called his Democratic detractors liberal extremists, saying mainstream Americans support provisions like securing the border and expanding child tax breaks. They countered that those goals could have been accomplished without restricting food access to the poor.

Pennsylvania's 7th District, which represents Carbon, Lehigh and Northampton counties plus a sliver of Monroe County, is among the most contested political real estate in the nation.

Outside political groups started launching attack ads against Mackenzie two months ago for allowing the bill to progress; that scrutiny is bound to increase now that the bill has advanced through the House.