Washington Examiner Executive Editor Bob Cusack said on Tuesday that President Donald Trump‘s One Big Beautiful Bill Act is facing mass scrutiny ahead of the midterm elections.
Cusack said it was a “monumental achievement” for Trump and the Republican Party to pass this legislation, given the party’s slim majority in the House. However, the new problem facing the Trump administration is that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act “isn’t popular,” so the “midterm strategy” is increasing public support for the law.
“And we’ve seen this with big, sweeping bills, where President Obama passed Obamacare, and it wasn’t easy,” Cusack said on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal. “It was very tight; I was on Capitol Hill covering that, and it got done. That said, at least initially, it wasn’t popular. So Trump has a similar type of problem. They’ve got to sell it, the Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says it’s going to be popular, especially when people feel the effects of 2026.”
“But remember, there are also Medicaid cuts, and they don’t go into effect in that new law until 2027. Those are not popular, but Democrats are going to be targeting them throughout this election year,” Cusack added.
He said Trump returned to the White House “maybe as the most powerful president” since former President Barack Obama in 2009, as Trump won both the popular vote and all seven swing states in 2024. However, Cusack conceded that a year later, Trump’s approval rating is “not good,” currently sitting in the low 40s or upper 30s.
Ahead of November’s midterm elections, Cusack said Trump and Republicans are facing “some serious issues,” stressing how the House is “really” up for grabs for the Democratic Party. He added that the Senate is more secure for Republicans given this year’s electoral map.
“But you never know what’s going to happen in elections, and conventional wisdom is often wrong,” Cusack said.
REPUBLICANS WANT GREENLAND DEBATE RESOLVED ‘VERY SOON’ BEFORE MIDTERM ELECTIONS: BOB CUSACK
Washington Examiner chief political correspondent Byron York said on Sunday that a president’s job approval rating is a “big indicator” for how the midterm elections will pan out. He added that Trump’s approval rating has “never” peaked over 50% “for very long,” and the president is at the “low to mid-40s.”
York also said “it’s a pretty good bet” that the Democratic Party will seek to impeach Trump again should it regain control of the House this November. However, it’s possible that Democrats will not pursue impeachment if “significant polling” shows voters would rather see the party work with Trump.