Johnny Olszewski

My colleague Congressman Andy Harris must be exhausted. After reading the linguistic acrobatics deployed to explain his recent vote on the so-called “big beautiful bill,” it’s hard to know where to start a response.

Perhaps his biggest contortion: The Harris-led House Freedom Caucus — a group of conservative hardliners whose core priorities are reducing government spending and our country’s deficit — helped to ensure that Marylanders won’t be saddled with more Washington debt. The facts are not on his side here: According to the nonprofit, nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, the bill increases our nation’s deficit by at least $3 trillion. That is not a “potential” price tag. It’s the actual cost taxpayers are now responsible for — and it’s one of the largest increases to our country’s deficit in our history.

Congressman Harris says he withheld his support until the bill was “improved.” But the tax benefits he touts only benefit Marylanders who are already ultra-wealthy. Middle-class families will see little to no benefits, while lower-income families will actually see a net income loss when tax changes are coupled with dramatic cuts to lifelines like Medicaid and food assistance.

In fact, directly contrary to his claims, this cruel legislation will cost thousands of Marylanders their health care coverage and food supports. About 175,000 Maryland Medicaid recipients — more than 10% of enrollees — will lose coverage. About 70,000 Marylanders insured by the Affordable Care Act will lose coverage and thousands more will see dramatic rate hikes. Nearly 370,000 Maryland families could lose some or all of their SNAP benefits, according to the Urban Institute.

And despite a lot of noise from Republicans across the country, these cuts do little to address waste, fraud and abuse. One major reason: Undocumented immigrants are already ineligible for Medicaid and SNAP benefits. Another is that the vast majority of “able-bodied” recipients are already working. Few, if any, Marylanders are illegally milking the system, and now, those that truly need help will be left behind.

To be fair, there are parts of this bill that I — and many of my colleagues — can support. I would vote for a standalone provision to eliminate tax on tips — which had already passed with bipartisan, unanimous support in the Senate. I support reducing taxes on Social Security income. And of course, I support reducing real waste and promoting real accountability. All of that could be achieved, in a bipartisan fashion, without this massive and heartless overreach — and without these crushing deficits.

Anyone who tries to tell Marylanders with a straight face that our neighbors won’t be hurt by this big bad bill simply isn’t telling the full truth. This legislation is bad. It’s ugly. And Marylanders deserve to know it.

Johnny Olszewski Jr. is a Democrat representing Maryland in the U.S. House of Representatives. He served as the county executive of Baltimore County from 2018 to 2025.