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AMERICANALMANAC (Sadie Smith) - New Mexico Democrat voted against no tax on tips, then championed the same policy weeks later Mon Aug 10 17:31:15 2026

Rep. Gabriel Vasquez opposed the Big Beautiful Bill's no-tax-on-tips provision in July, then told local outlets a month later that tipped workers "deserve to take home more of their hard-earned pay." Vasquez, a Democrat representing a competitive New Mexico district, cast his vote against the sweeping tax package that President Trump signed into law on […] The post New Mexico Democrat voted against no tax on tips, then championed the same policy weeks later appeared first on American Almanac .

Rep. Gabriel Vasquez opposed the Big Beautiful Bill's no-tax-on-tips provision in July, then told local outlets a month later that tipped workers "deserve to take home more of their hard-earned pay." Vasquez, a Democrat representing a competitive New Mexico district, cast his vote against the sweeping tax package that President Trump signed into law on July 4. Every House Democrat joined him in opposing it. By August, Vasquez was publicly calling for a permanent, expanded version of the very policy he had just helped try to block, a pivot that hands Republicans a ready-made attack line heading into a tight general election. The contradiction is straightforward. The Big Beautiful Bill included a no-tax-on-tips provision alongside Medicaid reforms and other spending changes. Vasquez voted no. Weeks later, he told New Mexico media that the bill's tip-tax relief did not go far enough and urged Congress to make it permanent and broader. His campaign framed the move as principled opposition to other parts of the bill, but the political math is hard to miss: Vasquez represents a battleground seat he won by just over four points, and "no tax on tips" polls well with the service-industry workers who make up a sizable share of his constituents. Vasquez introduced his own bill, then voted against the one that became law Earlier this year, Vasquez introduced H.R. 1314, which he calls the TIPS Act. The bill would make the no-tax-on-tips policy permanent and eliminate what he describes as the "subminimum wage", the lower hourly rate employers may pay tipped workers. In New Mexico, that rate sits at $2.13 per hour. On Tax Day in April, Vasquez issued a press release highlighting the bill and criticizing the Trump administration's approach to tip-tax relief. He warned that many workers would not qualify for the existing policy: "Tax Day is no one's favorite time of year, but I worry this filing season is going to be especially frustrating for a lot of folks. Many hardworking New Mexicans may be surprised when they file and realize they don't qualify for the tax relief they were promised." He added that only businesses earning above a certain threshold qualify for the provision, and that taxes still apply to overtime pay under the current law. His framing cast the Republican-backed bill as a half-measure, a "sham version" of no tax on tips, in his words. Then the Big Beautiful Bill reached the House floor. It included the no-tax-on-tips provision Vasquez said he supported in principle, along with a four-year window before that provision expires in 2028. It also included Medicaid work requirements, 80 hours per month for non-disabled adults ages 19 to 64, starting in 2027. Vasquez voted against the entire package. His campaign says Medicaid cuts forced the no vote Campaign spokesperson Patricia Socarras Santiago defended the vote to Fox News Digital , arguing that Vasquez objected to provisions beyond the tip-tax relief: "Vasquez would have happily voted for a permanent no tax on tips policy that didn't kick millions of hardworking families off Medicaid and food assistance and push our rural hospitals to the brink of closure." The campaign also pointed to a recent jobs report, claiming that tipped workers in hospitality are losing their jobs and that inflation is outpacing any benefit from the temporary no-tax-on-tips provision. A campaign statement called the policy insufficient under "MAGA leadership." That argument has a structural problem. Members of Congress vote on bills as written. Vasquez had the chance to support the largest no-tax-on-tips measure ever to reach a president's desk and chose not to. His alternative, the TIPS Act, has no reported co-sponsors and no known committee action. It exists, for now, as a press-release bill. Republicans see a campaign vulnerability they intend to exploit The National Republican Congressional Committee wasted no time framing Vasquez's position as a liability. NRCC spokesperson Reilly Richardson issued a statement casting Vasquez as out of step with his district: "Defund the police Gabe Vasquez wants to raise taxes, rip away benefits from workers, and make families' lives harder. New Mexicans want none of Vasquez's radical agenda." Vasquez won his seat by a 52.1-to-47.9 margin over Republican Yvette Herrell. He ran unopposed in his primary this cycle and now faces Greg Cunningham, a veteran and former DEA narcotics officer, in the November 3 general election. The narrow margin from his last race means even a small shift in voter sentiment on kitchen-table issues like tip taxation could decide the seat. Vasquez has a history of sharp rhetoric aimed at Republican leadership. In 2018, before entering Congress, he called Trump's deployment of military forces to the border "beyond stupid," dismissing it as a response to "a non-existent threat." That kind of language plays differently in a general election than it does in a primary, especially in a border-adjacent New Mexico district where immigration and law enforcement carry real weight. A four-year window and a political calculation The Big Beautiful Bill's no-tax-on-tips provision is not permanent. It expires in 2028, giving both parties a built-in reason to revisit the issue before the next presidential cycle. Vasquez is positioning himself as the candidate who wants permanence, a rhetorically comfortable spot that lets him claim he supports the policy while opposing the bill that actually delivered it. But voters in tipped-wage industries do not experience legislative positioning. They experience paychecks. The Big Beautiful Bill is law. The TIPS Act is not. And the congressman who says he wants tipped workers to keep more of their money voted against the only vehicle that made it to the president's desk. Vasquez himself acknowledged the gap between promise and reality in his April press release, though he aimed the critique at Republicans: "New Mexicans deserve honesty. Instead of confusing, temporary policies, I'm focused on real solutions that help workers and seniors actually keep more of their hard-earned pay and benefits in their pockets, not with the IRS." By August, his message to local outlets was simpler and stripped of the partisan framing: "Tipped workers deserve to take home more of their hard-earned pay." That sentence could have come from either party's talking points. Which is precisely the point. Vasquez wants credit for supporting a policy he voted to defeat. New Mexico's tipped workers, the ones earning $2.13 an hour before tips, will decide in November whether they find that convincing. The post New Mexico Democrat voted against no tax on tips, then championed the same policy weeks later appeared first on American Almanac .