Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) has called for every member of Congress who voted for Republicans’ reconciliation bill to be ousted from their seat, saying that the bill is “disastrous” and will only make the U.S. health care system even worse.
“Our broken health care ‘system’ is the most expensive and inefficient in the world. Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ will make it even worse,” Sanders said in a press release on Monday.
He went on to say that Democrats should make the bill and its horrific effects “the defining issue of the 2026 campaign.”
“Do the American people really want massive cuts to health care, nutrition and education so that billionaires can get huge tax breaks? I don’t think so. No member of Congress who voted for this disastrous legislation should be re-elected,” Sanders said.
Indeed, the U.S. health care system ranks the worst among peer countries, with the U.S. regularly spending the most on health care per capita while having among the worst health outcomes of any other wealthy country.
Republicans’ reconciliation bill, signed into law by President Donald Trump on the Fourth of July, will make the health system and outcomes far worse.
The bill will kick an estimated 17 million Americans off of their health insurance, while 22 million will lose some or all of their food benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program at a time when food security is already on the rise. Researchers have estimated that tens of thousands of people will die as a result of the bill.
The bill also represents one of the largest single redistributions of wealth in the U.S. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the wealth of the poorest 10 percent of households will decrease by $1,600 annually due to the bill, while the richest 10 percent will see their wealth increase by $12,000 yearly. This comes at a time of growing and historic wealth inequality. This, too, will impact health outcomes, as poverty is directly correlated with poor health and death.
It will also change the health infrastructure in the U.S. for the worse, with the bill slated to dramatically impact or even shutter rural hospitals across the country.
The bill passed largely on party lines earlier this month, with just two Republicans objecting in the House after numerous lawmakers who had voiced their opposition capitulated to Republican leaders. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) in particular faced ire after she said that she hoped the House would reject the bill because it’s “not there yet” — just after she had voted for the legislation.
Meanwhile, Democratic leaders have mostly stayed quiet on the bill, with figures like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) opposing it in name but raising very little awareness about the substance of the legislation.
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