¶ How To Win Against John McGuire
John McGuire has spent his time in Congress fighting to make Virginians’ lives harder. He voted to kick more than 35,000 Virginians off their health coverage by supporting the Big Ugly Bill, even though nine rural health clinics across Virginia were at risk of closure, and three had already been closed, due to the bill’s cuts. In the same vote, he passed the biggest cuts to SNAP in history, ignoring that more than 38,000 households in his district relied on the program. McGuire was also working to make life harder for seniors as a member of the Republican Study Committee. The group staunchly advocated for raising the retirement age, ignoring evidence that doing so would cost future retirees thousands of dollars every year. McGuire was an early supporter of DOGE, joining the Congressional DOGE caucus and touting the program’s ability to identify waste, fraud and abuse. When the agency came under fire for indiscriminately firing federal workers McGuire flippantly told his constituents that “we’ve all been fired or lost jobs sometime in our life,” ignoring that DOGE’s cuts wiped out six years of federal job growth in Virginia. He praised Trump’s tariffs despite them contributing to “mega-layoffs” across the country, crippling Virginia’s economy and imposing a $1,000 tax on Americans in 2025. McGuire pushed extreme anti-choice policies that could put Virginia women at-risk. Last but certainly not least, in 2024, he was the only Virginia State Senator to vote against banning child marriage.
¶ McGuire Voted to take health coverage from Virginians
- McGuire voted for a bill that would kick 17 million Americans off their health insurance, including nearly 12 million Americans off of Medicaid. More than 35,000 Virginians in his district could lose their health coverage as a result of his votes. Nine rural health clinics across Virginia were at risk of closing or significantly reducing services due to the Medicaid cuts, and Augusta Medical Group closed three clinics in anticipation of the Republican Bill’s impact on their operations.
Message: McGuire voted to take health coverage from Virginians to give billionaires tax breaks.
¶ McGuire voted for Massive Cuts To Medicare And belong To A Group That Wanted To raise The Social Security Retirement Age
- McGuire voted for Republicans’ reconciliation bill, which the Congressional Budget Office estimated would trigger more than $500 billion in cuts to Medicare absent future congressional action.
- McGuire was a member of the Republican Study Committee, which staunchly advocated for raising the age at which seniors are eligible to collect Social Security. The Committee claimed the age increase was essential for keeping Social Security solvent, ignoring that a higher retirement age would cut the median-wage retiree’s benefits by thousands of dollars every year. The Committee also advocated for turning Medicare into a voucher system, which would raise health care costs for most beneficiaries.
Message: McGuire supported policies that would put services Virginia seniors rely on at risk.
¶ McGuire Voted To Cut Food Assistance Virginians Rely On To Afford Groceries
- McGuire voted for a bill that made the largest SNAP cut in history. More than 38,000 households relied on SNAP to afford groceries.
Message: McGuire voted to cut food assistance his constituents relied on to afford groceries, all to give tax cuts to billionaires.
¶ McGuire Was The Deciding Vote To Protect Trump’s Tariffs
- McGuire said he “totally supports” Trump’s tariffs and claimed they were working to bring businesses back to the U.S. Then, he voted six times to protect the tariffs, including in April 2025 when he was the deciding vote to protect them, dooming Virginia families who relied on him to a trade war and tanking Virginia’s economic growth in 2025. Tariffs are contributing to higher food prices, “mega-layoffs” across the country and amounted to a $1,000 tax increase on Americans.
Message: McGuire said he “totally supports” his constituents paying higher prices.
¶ McGuire Supported A War That Raised Gas Prices on Virginia
- McGuire has been a staunch defender of President Trump’s war in Iran and voted against war powers resolutions that sought to limit it. In one of his defenses of the war McGuire even said, “it sucks, people are going to suffer. but if you don't do it now, it's going to be worse later." He has continued to defend the war even though Virginians have been paying more than $4 per gallon of gas on average as of the end of May 2026.
Message: McGuire thinks it’s perfectly fine that Virginians are suffering in the form of higher gas prices as a result of the war in Iran.
¶ McGuire Supported An Agency That Laid Off Federal Workers And Hamstrung Social Security
- McGuire was a vocal supporter of Trump’s “Department of Government Efficiency.” McGuire joinedthe Congressional “Delivering Outstanding Government Efficiency (DOGE)” Caucus and was quick to defend the agency amid criticism, claiming it “uncovered a surprising amount of waste, fraud and abuse.” When DOGE came under fire for its indiscriminate layoff of federal employees, McGuire told his constituents that “we’ve all been fired or lost jobs sometime in our life.”
- Despite all the time McGuire spent hyping up DOGE’s importance, Virginians suffered thanks to the agency’s actions. DOGE’s downsizing efforts affected the federal government’s ability to deliver services to seniors, and the mass layoff of federal workers wiped out six years of federal job gains in Virginia. More than 206,000 Virginians in McGuire’s district relied on Social Security benefits and more than 10,500 were employed by the federal government.
Message: McGuire supported eliminating his constituents’ jobs and causing seniors to wait longer for services.
¶ McGuire supported extreme Anti-choice Policies That would put Virginia women at-risk
- McGuire supported extreme anti-choice policies that put Virginian women at-risk. In 2023, he co-sponsored the Life at Conception Act, a near-total abortion ban that provided no protection for IVF. He celebrated the overturning of Roe v. Wade, pushed anti-abortion legislation that was rooted in misinformation, and proudly supported anti-abortion organizations.
Message: McGuire supported extreme anti-choice policies that put Virginian women at risk.
¶ It Took McGuire 11 Months To Vote To release The Epstein Files
- McGuire voted twice to protect the accused pedophiles named in the Epstein files, and never cosponsored legislation or signed Rep. Thomas Massie’s discharge petition that called for the Epstein files to be released. Only after Trump signaled it was okay did McGuire vote to release the files. After reading the unredacted files, McGuire claimed they made Trump look like a “hero.”
Message: McGuire voted to protect the accused pedophiles named in the Epstein files until Trump signaled it was okay to vote to release the files.
¶ McGuire Voted Against Banning Child Marriage in Virginia
- During his time in the Virginia State Senate, McGuire was the only senator to vote against legislation banning child marriage. McGuire later defended his vote and claimed, “we need more families.” From 2000 to 2021, an estimated 7,876 minors were married in Virginia, over eighty percent of whom were married to adult men.
Message: McGuire supported child marriage.
¶ Issue Briefs
¶ McGuire Supported Policies That Hurt Everyday Virginians
McGuire Voted To Take Health Coverage From Virginians
McGuire Supported Policies That Put Services Seniors Relied On At-Risk
McGuire Voted To Take Food Assistance From Virginians
McGuire Voted To Protect Tariffs That Raised Prices On Virginians
McGuire Supported A War That Raised Gas Prices On Virginians
McGuire Supported Extreme Anti-Choice Policies That Could Put Virginia Women At-Risk
¶ McGuire Used His Power To Benefit The Powerful And Himself
McGuire Voted Against Banning Child Marriage in Virginia
It Took McGuire 11 Months To Vote To Release The Epstein Files
McGuire's Key Votes In Congress