Speaker Johnson Is Forcing His Members to Walk the Plank and Vote for Huge Medicaid Cuts to Pay For Huge Tax Cuts for Billionaire Donors

Speaker Mike Johnson stated earlier this week that no concessions on the proposed $880 billion in Medicaid cuts will be made in the House budget resolution set to be voted on this afternoon. These drastic cuts would mean:

• Higher Health Care Costs For Most Americans and a Lower Insured Rate: Kaiser estimates that ending ACA premiums will increase costs for the vast majority of Americans, and lead to nearly 4 million Americans losing their health care annually. Both RSC and House Budget Committee plans would ultimately raise premiums by ending tax credits put in place in 2021, hiking premiums by as much as 300% and putting 4 million people in jeopardy of losing coverage of the premium tax credit.
• Cutting Medicaid, immediately causing 3 million Americans to lose their coverage – with more to come: Current proposals to cut Medicaid could lead to nine states with “trigger” laws on the books to automatically eliminate plans if the federal funding fell below 90%, impacting at least three million adults.
• Raising housing costs for working families: Previous budget proposals sought to cut vital housing assistance by eliminating 10% of funding for the Housing Choice Vouchers, while House legislation omitted bipartisan agreements set during the 2023 federal debt ceiling debates.
• Cuts to SNAP, a program millions of Americans rely on to pay for food, including close to 42 million during the pandemic: The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) warns policy proposals from Republicans, Trump, and the far-right Project 2025 could “cut benefits for all” SNAP beneficiaries and remove millions from the program.

All to make way for huge tax cuts for their billionaire donors.

Faced with this reality, even House Republicans have openly admitted the truth about their budget plan:

Republican Members: “Slashing Medicaid would have serious consequences, particularly in rural and predominantly Hispanic communities where hospitals and nursing homes are already struggling to keep their doors open.”

Now, while some Members are on the fence, and openly questioning these drastic cuts, the only way they can be true to their word is to vote against the budget resolution.

• TIME reported Rep. Jeff Van Drew was prepared to vote against the House budget resolution due to its $880 billion in potential Medicaid cuts, stating “Working class people receive Medicaid as they are working […] This is not just lazy people who are sitting around not doing their job.”
• Rep. Don Bacon said he asked “House leadership to prove to us that $880 billion in cuts to E&C won’t overly cut Medicaid.”
• Reps. Tony Gonzales, Nicole Malliotakis, Monica De La Cruz, David Valadao, Juan Ciscomani, Rob Bresnahan, Jr., James Moylan, and Kimberlyn King-Hinds sent a joint letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson urging him to reconsider $880 billion in potential cuts to Medicaid due to the impact such cuts would have on rural and Hispanic communities.
• Rep. Rob Bresnahan, Jr. previously said in a statement that he would not vote for any bill that “guts the benefits my neighbors rely on.”
• In a February statement to Politico, Rep. Ken Calvert said House Republicans “will not touch Social Security and Medicare benefits” as they are “not interested in cutting the social and health care safety net for children, disabled, and low-income Americans.”

If these members vote for the House budget resolution, their words are as empty as their promises to the people who rely on these programs.

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams and was authored by Newswire Editor.