Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., speaks during the opening session of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) Legislative Conference at the Hilton Washington DC National Mall The Wharf, Tuesday, March 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) is attempting to dodge responsibility for originally supporting President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill.

Although Fitzpatrick was one of two Republicans in the U.S. House who voted against the final passage of the bill in July, Fitzpatrick approved the original version of the bill in May, when congressional Republicans pushed the legislation through by a slim 215-214 vote.

This vote garnered Fitzpatrick praise from the Center for Individual Freedom, a conservative dark money group that thanked the lawmaker for supporting Trump’s tax cuts. The tax cuts are set to disproportionately benefit the highest earners in the country, while slashing social safety net programs like Medicaid, Medicare, and SNAP. For his vote, the center spent between $6-7k for a Facebook ad thanking Fitzpatrick, according to Facebook’s Ad Library.

Fitzpatrick did not respond to a request to comment on why he did not vote down the original version in May, when his vote would have blocked it from advancing to the Senate.

Earlier this month, Fitzpatrick told the Philadelphia Inquirer that his vote emphasizes his loyalty to the constituents in his purple district. Although there were significant safety net cuts present in the version of the bill he voted for in May, Fitzpatrick also said he opposed the deeper cuts to Medicaid and SNAP in the Senate version.

“I made it abundantly clear to every level of House leadership, including to the Speaker himself, well in advance of the vote, that I was a hard No on the Senate language, and that my vote was not up for discussion or negotiation, regardless of the outcome or the consequences,” Fitzpatrick said in a statement.

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesperson Eli Cousin issued a statement ripping Fitzpatrick for his spotty record.

“Brian Fitzpatrick is just another D.C. politician trying to have it both ways,” Cousin said in a press release. “He wants to be applauded by MAGA for giving tax cuts to billionaires, but dodge scrutiny for greenlighting the largest cuts to Medicaid in history. The fact that Fitzpatrick is getting praise from GOP dark money groups for his vote to advance Republicans’ Big, Ugly Bill tells you all you need to know about his true record and who he stands for — and it clearly isn’t Pennsylvanians.”

Fitzpatrick is seeking his sixth term in Congress next November, and he has already drawn the ire of Trump after his vote in July. During a summit at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh last month, Trump criticized Fitzpatrick, saying, “I did him a big personal favor. As big as you can get having to do with death and life,” Trump said. “Sure as hell he voted against us. So much for favors.”

Cook Political Report currently rates Fitzpatrick’s seat “Likely Republican.” According to a Forbes report from last year, Fitzpatrick’s district — which is located in the suburbs north of Philadelphia — is the wealthiest in Pennsylvania.