Overview
- Rep. Glenn Grothman made the comment during a Republican policy panel in Troy, Michigan, on Thursday while defending President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill.
- Grothman said the law was meant to help the “average guy” but added that Congress “should do a little more” for wealthy Americans and described how he would design tax cuts for higher earners.
- CNN analyst Harry Enten has estimated the reconciliation package added about $4 trillion to the national debt and tied the law to a sizable drop in Trump’s approval on government spending.
- Grothman is a six-term congressman running for re-election this November against Democrat Brad Smith and has a record of controversial public statements that have drawn repeated coverage.
- The bill passed narrowly in July 2025 on party-line votes with a vice-presidential tie-breaker and critics say its mix of tax cuts and spending changes creates political risk for GOP messaging going into the midterms.