Nothing good comes from a meeting called at 1 a.m. In the early morning of May 21, while most of the country slept, the House Rules Committee convened to discuss Trump’s budget bill. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-NM) asked House Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (R-MO) to read a line from the President’s “big, beautiful” bill, but he refused. Perhaps Smith didn’t want to read aloud that despite the bill including significant cuts to Medicare, it also proposes a tax break for owners of tanning salons.

Buried under Subtitle B, “Make Rural America and Main Street Grow Again,” section 111106 asks to repeal the current 10 percent excise tax on indoor tanning services. The bill defines indoor tanning services as having electronic products with ultraviolet lamps “intended for irradiation of an individual by ultraviolet radiation (wavelengths between 200 and 400 nanometers) to induce skin tanning.”

Most tanning beds emit UVA radiation, often called “tanning rays.” While UVA rays are less likely to cause a sunburn, many studies have confirmed the correlation between sunbed use and heightened melanoma risk. And, most canopy-style tanning beds primarily emit UVA with energy 10–15 times higher than sunlight.

Given the robust evidence showing the dangers of indoor tanning and the absurdity of it appearing in a bill that suggests cutting health coverage for millions of Americans, it’s understandable why Congresswoman Leger Fernández would call out this provision.

While she joked by inferring that the bill provision came from certain elected officials known to have an orange hue, she was serious when she pointed out that this tanning bed provision is in the same bill that would most likely cause rural hospitals across the country to close. “We are prioritizing tanning beds over hospital beds.”

Congresswoman Leger Fernández’s tanning bed confrontation went viral on social media,  with one Instagram post getting more than 28K likes as of press time. While most of the commenters showed outrage over the budget bill or lauded the Congresswoman’s bravery and tenacity, some added levity: “Orange you glad you read the bill?”

Meanwhile, on TikTok, a post with almost 35K likes as of press time included the Congresswoman’s reaction to her viral moment. She was quick to point out the ridiculousness of House Republicans refusing to read the bill aloud: “They are so ashamed of what is in that bill, they couldn’t even read it out loud. Because they [House Republicans] know that it is shameful to give tax breaks to tanning beds and take away hospital beds.”

Despite the Congresswoman’s efforts, the House passed Trump’s budget bill, which will now advance to the Senate.