One senator's political gymnastics routine could be considered prize winnings, according to an analyst.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) has been working to undo the cuts to Medicaid included in President Donald Trump's mega spending bill, which Hawley voted to pass. The bill cuts federal health care spending by $1 trillion and will leave more than 10 million Americans without health insurance, according to estimates from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
Russell Berman, a staff writer for The Atlantic, argued in a recent report that Hawley's "contortions" on the bill symbolize the pressure Republicans were under to pass Trump's spending bill.
"Republicans are only now beginning to assess the fallout from their enactment of such a far-reaching law," Berman wrote.
Hawley's moves to undo the cuts he voted for also put him in rare company, according to some political experts Berman spoke with.
“It was a performance worthy of a gold medal in political pretzel gymnastics,” Russ Carnahan, a former Missouri representative in Congress, told The Atlantic. Carnahan is also the current chair of Missouri's Democratic Party.
John Danforth, a three-term Republican representative from Missouri, also dismissed Hawley's actions as “simply a way of saying ‘whoops.’”
Even so, Danforth conceded that Hawley's vote could have served a bigger purpose.
“It would just be impossible to be a Republican in good standing in this era and vote against it,” Danforth said. “You’re going to be heckled. People are going to abuse you, and you’ll just never come up for air. So you must vote for the ‘big, beautiful bill,’ even though it means voting for elements that are against what you’ve been saying.”
