Don’t call it the One Big Beautiful Bill.
Three top officials from President Trump’s 2024 campaign urged Republican lawmakers on Tuesday morning to move away from the president’s chosen moniker for his signature domestic policy legislation and instead rebrand it as a boost for ordinary Americans.
In a closed-door briefing called to discuss midterm congressional campaign strategy, the officials encouraged lawmakers to refer to the measure as the “Working Families Tax Cut Bill” or the “Working Families Tax Plan,” according to members who attended.
The attempt to relabel Mr. Trump’s top legislative achievement was an implicit acknowledgment that the law is deeply unpopular, with its sweeping cuts to Medicaid and social safety net programs, as well as changes to the Affordable Care Act. Those polices are now threatening Republicans’ chances of maintaining control of the House. More than 64 percent of voters view the legislation unfavorably, according to recent polling.
In the briefing, which was entitled “Love at First Vote,” the Trump campaign officials conceded that the package was not polling well. But they dismissed that as a branding problem rather than an issue with the actual policies that Mr. Trump signed into law two months ago.
“The idea is to focus on the fact that it is a working families’ tax plan,” Representative Nicole Malliotakis, Republican of New York, said as she left the morning meeting held at a private Republican club across the street from the Capitol. “Once people find out what’s actually in it, they’ll be very supportive.”
Ms. Malliotakis said the presentation included polling that showed voters opposed the measure because “they’ve been so misinformed by Democrats’ fearmongering.”
Representative Eric Burlison, Republican of Missouri, said that the Trump campaign officials did not explicitly tell them to stop calling it the “Big Beautiful Bill,” the rhapsodic name that Mr. Trump gave the legislation. But it was heavily implied, he said.
“What I picked up from the conversation was I think we missed an opportunity to call it the ‘Working Families Tax Cut Bill,’” Mr. Burlison said. “We basically missed an opportunity.”
The briefing appeared to have its desired effect.
At the weekly Republican leadership news conference afterward, Representative Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the No. 3 House Republican, said that the long August recess had given him “the privilege of being back in my home state to discuss how Republicans’ working families tax cut is benefiting Minnesota.”
Other members who attended said that the Trump campaign officials underscored that people have not “lived” the law yet and that by this time next year, voters would come to realize how “great” it was.
The briefing was led by Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary who previously worked on the campaign; Tony Fabrizio, the chief pollster for the 2024 Trump campaign; and James Blair, who served as the campaign’s political director and is now a deputy chief of staff in the White House.
The invitation raised eyebrows on Capitol Hill for its edict that members were required to be there and that “attendance will be tracked by Team Trump.”
Even with the implicit threat, many Republicans did not show up.
Representative Lisa McClain of Michigan, the No. 4 House Republican who oversees messaging for the conference, said the problem was that the bill was being misunderstood.
“We are not cutting Medicaid,” she said. “We are actually increasing the funding on the Medicaid. We have to do a better job of correcting the truth with the other half of the truth.”
(The law does, in fact, cut nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid, with more reductions to food assistance for the poor and other government aid.)
Democrats said that whatever its title, there was no way to talk about the measure that would make it more popular with working people.
“They can rebrand all they want,” Senator Christopher S. Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, wrote on social media, sharing a chart that showed that the poorest 25 percent of workers lose money under the law while the richest Americans benefit from a tax cut. “The facts are the facts. They screwed working people to help their billionaire and corporate donors.”
Still, the mood of Republicans was that everything was going just fine.
Representative Troy Nehls, a Texas Republican who lit up a cigar at 9 a.m. after exiting the club, said that Ms. Leavitt “was here to spread the good news and just make sure people understand how good things are. We have a lot to celebrate. We’re winning, and the Democrats hate it.”
He added, “You’re nothing but foolish if you think the American people do not support what Donald Trump has done.”
Annie Karni is a congressional correspondent for The Times. She writes features and profiles, with a recent focus on House Republican leadership.
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