Rep. Young Kim, the lone Republican who represents Orange County in Congress, voted in favor of the massive bill that makes major changes to tax policy and programs, including Medicaid.
The other five Orange County representatives all voted against it, along with the rest of the House Democrats.
Still, the bill passed the House Thursday, July 3, 218-214, after a marathon overnight dealmaking among Republicans and a record-setting, nearly nine-hour speech by Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York. It’s considered a major legislative victory for President Donald Trump.
Democrats, and some Republicans, had expressed various levels of concern about the $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid funding the Senate added to the bill earlier this week. More than 2.3 million Californians could lose access to Medi-Cal coverage, projections estimate.
Kim had been among a small group of House Republicans, many of whom represent swing districts, who had said they would not back any major cuts to Medicaid that could impact coverage to vulnerable populations or that could threaten hospitals, nursing homes and safety-net providers.
“A budget resolution that does not protect vital Medicaid services for the most vulnerable citizens in my community will not receive my vote,” Kim said in April. “I’ve made this clear to my constituents and to House leadership and will continue to do so.”
But shortly after Thursday’s vote, Kim took a victory lap, her office saying in a news release that she “stood up to the White House and House leadership” to secure that $30,000 increase to a cap on how much taxpayers from high-tax states can deduct from federal tax obligations.
As for changes to Medicaid and food assistance programs, Kim said: “This bill takes important steps to ensure federal dollars are used as effectively as possible and to strengthen Medicaid and SNAP for our most vulnerable citizens who truly need it.”
“I will keep working to get our country back on the right track and protect the American dream for future generations,” she said.
Meanwhile, Rep. Lou Correa, D-Santa Ana, said the bill will impact thousands of seniors in Orange County who rely on food assistance programs, including SNAP, that will now be in jeopardy, in addition to the health care coverage concerns.
“I voted against this bill because I cannot in good conscience put the hundreds of thousands of hard-working American taxpayers in Orange County who rely on these programs to survive at risk,” Correa said. “It’s unacceptable, unconscionable and un-American.”
“My constituents sent me to Congress to fight for lower costs and safer communities. This un-American bill accomplishes neither of those goals and will instead rip resources away from hardworking families while giving tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy,” said Rep. Derek Tran, D-Orange.
Kim, along with a handful of House Republicans from New York and New Jersey, had also made raising the cap on how much of a deduction taxpayers can claim to offset high state and local obligations a priority during the negotiations over this spending bill.
The Senate had left in the House’s proposal to allow taxpayers to deduct up to $40,000 per year from federal taxes, phasing it out if their income hits $500,000. But the upper chamber reverts the cap back after five years to $10,000 — the limit placed in 2017 as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act spearheaded by the first Trump administration.
“For too long, middle-class Americans, working families and small businesses I represent have been hurting from high taxes, rising prices and skyrocketing living costs made worse by out-of-touch policies from Sacramento and Washington,” Kim said in a statement. “This bill lowers taxes and provides relief to put money back in the pockets of everyday Americans.”
California’s 40th Congressional District “leans Republican” for 2026, according to the latest ranking by the Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan election analysis site.
Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Thomas Massie of Kentucky were the only two Republicans who voted against the bill Thursday.