By Nandita Bose
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Vice President JD Vance travels to Wisconsin on Thursday to promote the massive tax and spending package that President Donald Trump has said needs a rebranding to resonate better with voters ahead of next year’s midterm elections.
Vance will speak at a steel-fabricating facility about the law’s benefits for manufacturing, his office said, part of a broader Republican blitz during the August congressional recess to support a measure that polls show is deeply unpopular with Americans.
With the 2026 midterms ahead, Trump and Vance are working to reframe the bill, which Trump signed on July 4, in hopes of turning a policy win into a political one
Trump on Tuesday appeared to recognize the challenge his party faces in selling his signature legislation, which he had dubbed the “big, beautiful bill.”
“I’m not going to use the term ‘great, big, beautiful’ – that was good for getting it approved, but it’s not good for explaining to people what it’s really about,” Trump said during his Cabinet meeting, where he described the measure as a “major tax cut for workers.”
An August poll by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center found 49% of Americans oppose the tax and spending law, compared to just 29% who support it. Majorities expressed concern that it will increase the federal deficit and hurt low-income Americans while primarily benefiting the wealthy.
The White House disputed the polling data, insisting that internal polls across the country found support for many specific provisions of the law.
Democrats have seized on the findings of low support, saying the legislation favors the rich. The Congressional Budget Office estimated the bill could result in 12 million more uninsured Americans over the next decade and nearly $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid.
In Wisconsin, the bill could strip health coverage from roughly 276,000 residents, including 63,000 childless adults facing new Medicaid work requirements, according to the state’s Department of Health Services. SNAP cuts may cost the state $314 million annually, putting tens of thousands at risk of losing food assistance.
Vance has played a central role in the White House campaign to promote the spending law, a reflection of both his rising profile in the party and his perceived ability to connect with working-class voters.
Since early August, he has visited Georgia, Ohio and Pennsylvania, swing states where Republicans are either trying to flip Senate seats or shore up vulnerable House incumbents.
His sales pitch has highlighted middle-class tax relief and new savings accounts for children under 18, but many of those benefits won’t kick in until after the midterms, complicating efforts to win immediate voter support.
Vance’s language has evolved during those stops, reflecting a broader messaging shift from the White House.
In Pennsylvania and Ohio, he frequently called the law the “One Big Beautiful Bill.” But by late August in Georgia, he dropped that phrase entirely, referring to it repeatedly as the “Working Families Tax Cut.”
The change is deliberate, said a White House official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
“The messaging needs to emphasize benefits for working families,” the official said. “The name definitely does not help, and our polling has started to reflect that.”
The Trump White House is betting that aggressive, localized outreach and clearer messaging will help sway voters well before November 2026 elections, when Republicans will defend their majorities in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate.
(Reporting by Nandita Bose in Washington; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Cynthia Osterman)
Comments