Former Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., told Newsmax that he doesn't have a problem with Republicans who voted against the megabill that passed the Senate.
Brown, who is running for the Republican nomination for senator in New Hampshire, appeared on "Newsline" on Tuesday minutes after the bill was approved out of the upper chamber 51-50, with Vice President JD Vance casting the tie-breaking vote.
The wide-ranging tax-cut and spending bill heads back to the House for another vote.
"They felt they had the votes and they had they could afford to lose a couple. This is part of the sausage-making process," said Brown, who most recently served as ambassador to New Zealand. "There's a lot of good things there. I'm hoping there's some things in there they can look at again and tighten up."
Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, and Rand Paul of Kentucky joined all Democrat senators in voting in opposition.
"They're going to have differences of opinion," Brown said. "That's the beauty of our party. The Democrats, they just go in lockstep with Chuck Schumer and [House Minority Leader Hakeem] Jeffries. If they did not get the things that they care about, then they have every right to vote no."
Brown said he supports a work requirement for receiving Medicaid, a core component of the bill.
"That is for low- and medium-income folks who absolutely need it, and I want them to have it," Brown said. "But just like Bill Clinton, I think we can have a work requirement of 20 hours. You can volunteer, you can do whatever you want, but you got to get off the couch and you got to be part of society."
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Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
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