WEST PITTSTON, Pa. — Vice President JD Vance gave an early glimpse Wednesday of the argument Republicans will make ahead of the 2026 midterm elections while touting the megabill the White House pushed through Congress.
In a 20-minute speech in northeast Pennsylvania, Vance urged the audience to become fellow evangelists for what he called the “big, beautiful bill” in conversations with family and friends.
Vance supplied the talking points he wants them to use, describing how workers at the machine shop that hosted his appearance will no longer pay taxes on overtime pay.
Vance was silent about less popular facets of what had been a nearly 900-page bill. He did not mention, for example, steep cuts to Medicaid, which provides health coverage to low-income people. A report published Wednesday in JAMA Health Forum found that the cuts could lead to 1,000 more deaths a year.
And while Vance said President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans are getting “Washington spending under control,” the nation’s debt will increase by $3.3 trillion over the next decade under the legislation, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
Vance invited the audience to do its own research but it them to “take what I said and … go talk to your neighbors, go and talk to your friends about what this bill does for American citizens.”
Without explicitly mentioning the midterm elections that will determine control of Congress, Vance said, “We don’t want to wake up in a year and a half and give the Democrats power back.”
Both parties are in the opening phase of a battle to shape voter impressions of the new law ahead of the midterms.
Trump’s Cabinet members are expected to travel the country in the coming months to help sell the bill to voters. Introducing Vance was Kelly Loeffler, administrator of the Small Business Administration. She used her speech to promote the law, calling it “rocket fuel for small business.”
Republicans face some headwinds in selling the legislation. A recent Economist/YouGov survey taken after Trump signed the bill on July 4 found that 35% of adults supported it, compared with 53% who were opposed.
The White House needs GOP voters to be enthusiastic about the law and motivated to vote next year if the party hopes to hang on to its majorities in the House and the Senate.
“The Trump voters are happy and complacent right now,” said John McLaughlin, a Trump pollster. “And we have to get them fired up for next year. We have a lot of work to do. If President Trump is not on the ballot, it’s harder to get them out.”
Vance’s appearance was also an investment of sorts in his own political future. Pennsylvania is a perennial battleground state. Trump lost it in 2020 when he lost to Joe Biden but won it back last year when he was elected to a new term. Vance is a likely GOP candidate in the next presidential race — a prospect that voters interviewed before his speech said they welcome.
Dwayne McDavitt, 63, of the group Bikers for Trump, said: “I love JD Vance. I hope he runs in 2028. He’s a very intelligent man.”
Vance said nothing about the ongoing furor that threatens to divide Trump voters: The Justice Department’s finding that the Jeffrey Epstein files include no “incriminating ‘client list’” or evidence that would implicate third parties.
Many hard-core Trump have balked at the claim, while Trump has called upon them to drop the subject and stop talking about Epstein.
Before Vance’s appearance, supporters waiting in line offered mixed views of whether they believe the Trump administration is suppressing damning information involving Epstein.
Steven Taylor, a truck driver living across the street from the machine shop, said he was “angered” when Trump said people should move on from the Epstein controversy.
“I think we’re being lied to,” said Taylor, 52. “And I don’t appreciate it. This is supposed to be the era of transparency.”
“We put our trust in him [Trump],” he continued. “I’m still going to support him, but with a slanted eye. We’re the ones who put him where he is. It’s totally disrespectful.”
But Richard Geiersbach, 66, a contractor wearing a MAGA hat, echoed a point that Trump has been making in recent days: Epstein isn’t worth discussing anymore.
“It’s a waste of time, a waste of money,” he said. “Let it go.”
