Bob Cusack on the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’: Inside the Washington Examiner’s 10-part series

Washington Examiner Executive Editor Bob Cusack reveals the 10-part series on President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act was a “labor of love.”“This is a 10-part series,” Cusack said on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal Monday. “We have two parts going per day, Monday through Friday, so you’ll see the first part is up on the senate scramble for votes, and then the second part will be up at noon and then you’ll see two more the rest of the week.”Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act into law on July 4, 2025, after the Senate passed it 51-50 on July 1 with Vice President JD Vance breaking the voting tie, followed by final House approval on July 3, 2025. The legislation, now law, reduces taxes, adjusts spending across various federal programs, raises the statutory debt limit, and addresses agencies and programs throughout the federal government. “It is looking back and talking to the principles, we interviewed Senator John Thune, Scott Bessent, Steve Scalise and many others in the administration and many lawmakers,” Cusack said. “This was a labor of love, we had a couple dozen people working on the entire project at the Washington Examiner.”HOW THE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL BECAME LAW: READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER’S 10-PART SERIES Cusack explained that the series aims to reveal previously untold details about how the bill came together and how it’s toying with voters a year later. “It is like a miniature book. And we are telling you things you did not hear before,” Cusack said. “As you know, when bills are moving through, lawmakers in the administration can‘t tell you everything. They don‘t tell you everything. This is a format of presidential books, after the presidential race and you are going to find out new things and what happened. Why are we doing it? Because not only is it looking back, but it‘s also looking forward of how this now law is playing with voters and the results are mixed on that.”HOW THE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL BECAME LAW: LATE-NIGHT DRAMA IN THE SENATECusack pointed out what he called “one of the most consequential and controversial pieces of legislation,” noting that the legislation was almost did not pass. “That‘s why we did it. We have different chapters on the Senate, the House, the state and local tax, Medicaid, but it really focuses on the drama of getting votes because the margins were so close. This legislation almost did not pass.” Reflecting on the bill’s passage and the political maneuvering behind it, Cusack said, “Amazingly, I did not think it would pass by last July 4, but they were able to do it with a lot of arm-twisting, and that‘s what this series gets into. We get into the PR of it and both parties mobilizing this.”