Kemp embraces Trump’s ‘beautiful’ budget — and its brutal trade-offs for Georgia

And Kemp is one of the key supporters of the Republican-backed bill, which could hit Georgia’s bottom line hard in other ways, too.

It would also slash funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program that helps poor families afford groceries, which could leave the state on the hook to pay $812 million annually to sustain the food stamps initiative.

New work requirements and stricter eligibility checks for Medicaid — building on mandates Kemp enacted in Georgia — could lead to an estimated 84,000 in the state losing coverage and put added strain on hospitals that care for the uninsured.

Trump’s budget, which narrowly passed in the U.S. House and is now pending in the Senate, boosts border security and immigration enforcement and introduces a new round of tax cuts that mostly benefit wealthy Americans. It offsets some of those costs through a sweep of budget-cutting measures mostly targeting social safety net programs and producing broad and potentially disruptive implications.

Along with other Republican governors, Kemp said the bill sets the stage for the “next great American revival.”

Kemp has defended the bill as a long-term investment in fiscal discipline that helps steer the economy away from “winners and losers” picked by political leaders. He said 54 of the 59 emobility projects the state announced on his watch came before the federal incentives were enacted or were tied to larger projects that predate the perks.

And his office has dismissed criticism of the package, saying it’s not “only premature but it spreads uncertainty and fear in the minds of Americans,” because the final version is still being hashed out.

While Republicans have the numbers to pass the bill in the Senate despite unified opposition from the chamber’s Democrats, some GOP senators have raised concerns about cuts to safety net and clean energy programs and the tax provisions that could add trillions to the deficit.

“What is absolutely certain though is that congressional inaction will result in a massive tax increase on millions of hardworking Georgians,” Kemp spokesman Garrison Douglas said.

He added that fighting to rein in federal spending shouldn’t be “controversial or irresponsible.”

“In fact, it is the mandate that our elected representatives were sent to Washington D.C. to address,” Douglas said, “and our office will continue to monitor the status of this legislation and what impacts a finalized version may have.”

The governor’s Democratic critics say his support is the latest sign Kemp has aligned himself with Trump’s MAGA agenda, even when it risks harming the voters who twice elected him.

“I see no daylight between Donald Trump and Brian Kemp on every major issue,” Stacey Abrams, who lost to Kemp the past two election cycles, said in an interview during a recent listening tour in rural Georgia.

“When poor people are at risk, when rural communities are at risk, when the needs of our communities are at stake, they will always choose themselves and their allies.”

A rallying cry for Democrats

Kemp is hardly alone in his support for the sweeping bill. Republicans seeking to unseat Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff next year have put the measure at the center of their campaigns. Georgia’s entire Republican U.S. House delegation provided crucial votes to help pass it last month.

U.S. Rep. Austin Scott, R-Tifton, echoed many supporters when he said Georgia is positioned to absorb the effects of the cuts to federal spending because of the state’s bulging surplus and a Georgia Pathways program that already enforces work and academic requirements for some Medicaid recipients.

“I do not think that the bill has a big impact on the state of Georgia,” he said, “because the state of Georgia is well-run.”

But Kemp’s endorsement goes beyond lip service. The final outlines of the bill could help define his final chapter as governor, forcing him to grapple with politically fraught cuts to health care and social services the state has largely avoided during his second term thanks to that booming surplus.

It also lands as Kemp weighs his next act after ruling out a challenge to Ossoff. Now the chair of the Republican Governors Association, Kemp is seen as a potential 2028 presidential contender who would be forced to reconcile with the cuts on the trail.

Nor can he afford to alienate Trump by criticizing the measure, particularly as he negotiates a potential joint endorsement with the president in the race to unseat Ossoff.

Democrats have seized on the budget proposal as a new rallying cry, warning that Georgia Republicans are so tethered to Trump’s domestic agenda they’re willing to gut health care and nutrition programs to bankroll tax breaks for the wealthy.

“That’s what it’s all about,” House Minority Leader Carolyn Hugley said. “Everybody’s auditioning to see who could be the MAGA king.”

‘It’s good for them’

The potential consequences of the legislation are just beginning to come into focus.

A Congressional Budget Office analysis found the House-approved bill would shrink incomes for the poorest 10% of U.S. households while boosting earnings for the top 10%. The package would increase the federal deficit over 10 years by $2.4 trillion, mainly because of the tax cuts, according to the CBO.

The report also projected that 10.9 million Americans could lose health care coverage by 2034 as a result of the bill. And the Kaiser Family Foundation estimates 160,000 Georgians would become uninsured if the changes take effect.

Georgia’s economy could face ripple effects by reduced consumer spending, as cuts to health care programs and food assistance take a toll on low-income families. Hospitals and health clinics could be forced to seek new grants or state aid to offset the loss of federal dollars.

The possibility of a special legislative session to fill budget gaps or restructure state safety net programs is already circulating under the Gold Dome, though top GOP lawmakers are downplaying the chances.

“Let’s deal with the elephant in the room. A special session, in my opinion, will not occur unless there’s a national emergency or an emergency of huge magnitude,” Senate Majority Leader Steve Gooch told the “Politically Georgia” podcast, nodding to the roughly $15 billion in Georgia’s reserves. “We’re ready for those rainy day issues.”

Some Democrats are already sounding the alarm. State Reps. Sandra G. Scott of Rex, Viola Davis of Stone Mountain and Kim Schofield of Atlanta sent a joint letter to Georgia’s congressional delegation asking lawmakers to fully fund SNAP and Medicaid.

“The consequences for Georgians are devastating,” the trio wrote. “We cannot balance the federal budget on the backs of the poor, the elderly or the disabled. We urge our congressional leaders to protect the programs that protect Georgians.”

South Fulton City Councilmember Carmalitha Gumbs said local governments are already bracing for the fallout if they have to help fill in the gaps.

“There is a concern,” she said. “And cities are now at the point where they are planning, they’re trying to make sure that we can embrace the impact of what this ‘big, beautiful bill’ will do.”

So far, she added, there has been no communication from Kemp or state leaders over potential ramifications.

“I do hope that the governor does the right thing by the people here in Georgia,” she said. “There’s a lot of Georgians that will suffer from this bill.”

Senate revisions are all but certain, though the scope of the changes remains to be seen.

A handful of Senate Republicans have expressed concerns about the impact of the Medicaid cuts, while others want broader efforts to reduce the deficit. Senate GOP Leader John Thune said his goal is for changes to be approved in the coming weeks and a vote on the Senate floor before the July 4 break. But some Trump allies are pushing back on any major rewrite.

“Once you peel back some of the politics and look at some of the policy provisions in the bill,” Republican state Rep. Chas Cannon of Moultrie said, “I think the American taxpayers will see it’s good for them.”