A leading GOP friendly group supporting President Trump’s “one, big, beautiful bill” is readying a $4 million advertising buy aimed at helping steer the effort through the Senate after a number of Republicans voiced concerns about the legislation as it stands.
The plans from Americans for Prosperity, first reported on by CBS News, come as the GOP-controlled Senate is expected to focus on the sprawling bill key to Mr. Trump’s agenda after it narrowly passed the Republican led-House last month.
The messaging from AFP includes “video and digital ads that will air on cable, connected TV, and other digital platforms,” according to the organization. Television advertisements from the group will initially air in North Carolina, Louisiana, Maine, Idaho and the District of Columbia but could expand further.
“The sooner the Senate advances the bill, the sooner Americans start seeing relief where they need it most,” said Brent Gardner, the organization’s chief government affairs officer in a statement. The statement also noted the group is well aware that as the process being used to fast track the bill progressed “the hill to climb was only going to get steeper.”
Crucial to the GOP bill is its continuation of key parts of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which was a legislative trademark of Mr. Trump’s first term in office. But the expansive bill that passed the House also includes Medicaid work requirements, a raise of the debt ceiling and a bevy of other major measures that could prove politically difficult to pass even with the relatively strong GOP majority in the Senate.
“Look, I want to vote for it. I’m for the tax cuts. I voted for the tax cuts before. I want the tax cuts to be permanent, but at the same time, I don’t want to raise the debt ceiling $5 trillion,” Kentucky GOP Sen. Rand Paul said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.”
The new advertising move from AFP include testimonials that show not only the impact of the 2017 tax cuts but also what could happen if Congress does not act soon to extend those earlier changes along with “ads encouraging fiscal hawks in the Senate to find spending offsets by further eliminating wasteful Biden-era spending programs,” according to details set to be released by AFP.
Democrats in Congress have so far strongly resisted the Trump agenda legislation. While most legislation in the Senate typically requires bipartisan support because of the chamber’s filibuster threshold, Republican leaders are using a procedural route that would allow them to pass the bill on the strength of their partisan majority alone. Already a messaging standoff has emerged around the bill that could play a major role in the 2026 midterms.
“Senate Republicans are doing everything in their power to rip away health care and spike costs for hardworking families, all to give billionaires a massive tax handout,” Maeve Coyle, a spokesperson for the Senate Democrats campaign arm said in a recent statement. “Under the leadership of Senate Republicans, millions of people are at risk of losing their health insurance – and voters will hold them accountable for it at the ballot box in 2026.”
The Republican Party doesn’t need every one of its Senators to vote for the bill in order for it to pass due to the party’s successful 2024 election that saw the right take back the majority in the chamber and finish with a total of 53 seats. But losing the support of just four GOP senators could doom the push.
“The Senate will have their differences, but focusing on where Republicans are unified is what will drive this bill forward – permanent tax cuts, energy abundance, secure borders, and the elimination of waste, fraud, and abuse,” Gardner, with Americans for Prosperity, said in a statement.
