Democratic Colorado Rep. Brittany Pettersen held back tears on Thursday as she claimed Congress “forced” her to vote on President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful” bill.
Pettersen said she struggled to hold back her tears as members of Congress had to vote on a bill that would allegedly “decimate” hospitals and healthcare across the U.S.
“We were forced back here. [I] took a red-eye flight, I haven’t slept. We’re here being forced back to vote on this disastrous budget proposal that is going to decimate our rural hospitals, healthcare that families, millions of families across the United States rely on and increase costs for the rest of us for the private insurance market when we have this much uncompensated care. It’s hard to hold back the tears with how bad this bill really is, Petterson emotionally said. (RELATED: Dem Rep. Jayapal Claims People Have Been ‘Sobbing’ On Her Shoulder Over How Much They Hate The ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’)
Just got back to DC after flying over night because Donald Trump is forcing a vote on his devastating budget proposal.
It’s hard to hold back the tears when trying to articulate how bad this bill truly is and what it will do to families and communities across this country.… pic.twitter.com/ofrRHtEMxD
— U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen (@RepPettersen) July 2, 2025
The legislation intends to pour $100 billion into funding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and border enforcement, make changes to Medicaid and eliminate taxes on tips and overtime. The bill passed the Senate on Tuesday in a 51 to 50 vote and made it through a procedural vote in the House on Thursday, with Pennsylvania Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick being the only Republican to vote against the spending package.
Republican Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, an initial holdout on the bill, flipped his vote to a “yes” during the procedural vote.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries used a procedural rule known as a “magic minute” to give a five-hour long speech on the House floor, where he lamented Trump’s legislation.
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