Rallying House Republicans to pass a version of his One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) last week, Donald Trump instructed them, “Don’t fuck around with Medicaid.” The White House brandished polls explaining that reforms to the program are politically risky. In the end, though, the House could not avoid $700 billion in Medicaid reductions.
The savings offset, albeit only partially, the multitrillion-dollar cost of other Republican priorities: extending the 2017 tax cuts and increasing spending on border security and defense. In this vast bundle of tax, spending, and immigration changes, now on its way to the Republican-controlled Senate, Democrats spy an opportunity. “The fact that the Republican Party stands for slashing Medicaid. . . all to give tax breaks for the billionaires, helps us,” Chuck Schumer of New York, the top Senate Democrat, said. “The House bill has put a stamp on who the Republican Party is.”
Media coverage is amplifying the Democratic message: “How the GOP’s Proposed Medicaid Cuts Could Affect Millions of Family Caregivers,” reads a headline from PBS News Hour’s website, typical of the genre.