I seem to remember people being broadly in favor of this change at the time it was first proposed because it would elevade software development and create more long-term stability, but in a world where the primary focus is on quarterly funding rounded and acquisitions it obviously skews the numbers and thus the potential founded/early investor upside.
There are two possible motivations for the impending change. One is the argument that deducting 100% of developer labor isn't ideal because developers create IP whose value can compound as an asset, rather than the labor being 'consumed' in production as with manufacturing (where any long-term benefit after the initial sale goes to the consumer). The other is that it's a legislative stick designed to herd a powerful investor/donor lobby into supporting budget legislation in exchange for turning the favorable tax treatment faucet back on.
I don't recall there being favorable reception when Trump's Congress passed it nor since. At best, non-awareness, and 'cost of business' for whatever the other talking points at the time.
You can see the older HN threads, people were shocked, and it comes up perennially, with calls to restore favorable tax treatment that incentivizes vs punishes business growth. Same pattern in social media responses to news articles.
Yes, as far as I can tell, this change was made to help balance the cost of other provisions in the TCJA. On paper, it would have at least let them claim they'd take in 5 years of extra tax revenue in from tech businesses (most of it in year 1). I don't think it has any long-term benefit for anyone, even the government.
And the changes proposed in the Big Beautiful Bill actually do reverse it, and allow some retro-active (to tax year 2022) relief. So they're trying to undo it, and of course the Democratic party is calling it "a tax break for billionaires", which, of course, it is. But that doesn't really tell the whole story, either.