Marjorie Taylor Greene Admits She Didn't Read Trump Mega Bill She Voted For

Yahoo

3 days ago

Diehard MAGA Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said she wished she had not voted for President Donald Trump's 'One Big, Beautiful' spending bill, explaining that she wasn't aware of its contents.
'Full transparency, I did not know about this section on pages 278-279 of the OBBB that strips states of the right to make laws or regulate AI for 10 years,' Greene wrote on X Tuesday. 'I am adamantly OPPOSED to this and it is a violation of state rights and I would have voted NO if I had known this was in there.'
The section flagged by Greene would halt states from regulating artificial intelligence for the next decade. A bipartisan coalition of state lawmakers has signed on to a letter protesting the clause, which they worry will make it harder to address AI-generated scams.
Once she was aware of the bill's contents, Greene had a similar take.
'We have no idea what AI will be capable of in the next 10 years and giving it free rein and tying states' hands is potentially dangerous,' she wrote in her post. She said she would not vote for the bill when it returns to the House for final approval unless the section is removed.
The sprawling, 1,038-page bill passed the House by a single vote on May 22—meaning that Greene's change of heart could be significant if the bill makes it through the Senate.
While lawmakers themselves often don't have time to read lengthy bills before voting, it is typical to have staff vet the legislation for potential sticking points.
Greene, who represents Georgia, has cultivated a reputation as one of Trump's loudest and most eccentric cheerleaders in the House. The White House declined to comment on her criticism of the bill.
Elon Musk, another top Trump ally, offered an even more scathing rebuke of the bill Tuesday.
'This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination,' the world's richest man wrote on X. 'Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.'
Asked about Musk's comment in a press briefing later on Tuesday, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Trump 'already knows where Elon Musk stood on this bill. It doesn't change the president's opinion. This is one big beautiful bill and he's sticking to it.'
Trump has also traded blows with Republican Sen. Rand Paul, who, like other critics, sounded the alarm about what the bill would do to the deficit.
'The main thing I object to is raising the debt ceiling $4 or $5 trillion,' Paul said on CNBC Tuesday. 'That's an indication that we'll borrow that much. It's an indication that we'll put the debt on the back burner.'
Trump soon fired back on Truth Social.
'Rand votes NO on everything, but never has any practical or constructive ideas,' he said. 'His ideas are actually crazy (losers!). The people of Kentucky can't stand him. This is a BIG GROWTH BILL!'
Other Republican senators, including Sen. John Thune and Sen. Ron Johnson, have shared hesitations similar to Paul's. The bill is likely to undergo changes to address concerns before it is brought before the entire Senate, which has a 53-47 Republican majority, for a vote.