{"id":510,"date":"2025-02-25T08:43:53","date_gmt":"2025-02-25T08:43:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2025\/02\/25\/gop-lawmaker-tells-trump-he-may-vote-against-budget-bill-over-medicaid-cuts-time\/"},"modified":"2025-02-25T08:43:53","modified_gmt":"2025-02-25T08:43:53","slug":"gop-lawmaker-tells-trump-he-may-vote-against-budget-bill-over-medicaid-cuts-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2025\/02\/25\/gop-lawmaker-tells-trump-he-may-vote-against-budget-bill-over-medicaid-cuts-time\/","title":{"rendered":"GOP Lawmaker Tells Trump He May Vote Against Budget Bill Over Medicaid Cuts – TIME"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

A<\/span>round a dozen House Republicans are uneasy about the prospect of voting for their party\u2019s budget proposal over potential cuts to Medicaid, according to several people familiar with the conversations. And with only a narrow majority in the House, GOP leaders are now navigating an increasingly volatile path, where the fate of the budget, and the possibility of a government shutdown, hinges on resolving these internal divisions.<\/p>\n

Rep. Jeff Van Drew, a former Democrat from New Jersey turned Trump-supporting Republican, tells TIME that he\u2019s prepared to vote against the sweeping budget plan on Tuesday, claiming its proposed $880 billion in cuts to Medicaid are too extreme\u2014even if it helps pay for tax cuts and new national security spending.<\/p>\n

\u201cWorking class people receive Medicaid as they are working,\u201d Van Drew says of the government health insurance program that serves over 72 million Americans. \u201cThis is not just lazy people who are sitting around not doing their job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Van Drew says he called President Donald Trump on Monday evening to express his opposition to the budget resolution: \u201cI told him I very well may not vote for this, and I\u2019m certainly waiting until the last minute to see if some changes can be made, because I\u2019m very unhappy.\u201d During that call, Van Drew says Trump did not ask him to change his mind and vote for the House GOP\u2019s budget resolution or push back on his concerns about potential Medicaid cuts. \u201cHe listened and he understood my concerns,\u201d Van Drew says. \u201cI believe it\u2019s bad for him because he made a commitment,\u201d referring to Trump\u2019s repeated pledges during his campaign and his presidency to protect Medicaid, a promise that many Republicans feel he is now at risk of breaking.<\/p>\n

Trump has long positioned himself as a defender of entitlement programs, including Medicaid, which provides health care to low-income Americans. Throughout his political career, he has consistently vowed not to make cuts to Medicaid, even as his administration has pursued broader budget reductions. \u201cWe\u2019re going to love and cherish Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid,\u201d Trump told reporters on Jan. 31. Yet, only days later, he endorsed the GOP-led House budget proposal, which includes significant cuts to Medicaid.<\/p>\n

The apparent contradiction has left members like Van Drew caught between their loyalty to Trump and the political realities of representing districts where Medicaid is deeply important. In recent days, protestors have lined up outside Van Drew\u2019s South Jersey district office. The uncertainty surrounding Trump\u2019s stance on Medicaid cuts has created further rifts within the GOP, as some lawmakers fear alienating the very constituents that helped Trump win crucial swing states.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to see him go through this,\u201d Van Drew says.<\/p>\n

House Speaker Mike Johnson plans to hold a vote Tuesday on the measure, which calls for $2 trillion in cuts over a decade. But it\u2019s uncertain to pass given the fierce opposition from lawmakers representing districts with high Medicaid enrollment, many of whom are facing pressure from constituents who depend on the program for vital health care services. At recent town halls across the country, constituents have voiced their discontent over spending freezes and federal worker firings<\/a> spearheaded by Elon Musk\u2019s Department of Government Efficiency<\/a>. Some fear that voting in favor of these cuts could cost Republicans re-election support in 2026 by alienating their voters\u2014many of whom voted for Trump and have benefited from Medicaid.<\/p>\n

The ideological divide within the GOP runs deep. On one side, budget hawks argue that Medicaid is an \u201copen checkbook\u201d contributing to the nation\u2019s $34 trillion debt, and they view this moment as a crucial opportunity to curb the nation\u2019s ballooning deficit. The proposed solution includes capping Medicaid spending, imposing work requirements, and targeting fraud\u2014all of which would save an estimated $880 billion over the next decade, House Republicans estimate. Critics say that if the Medicaid cuts are approved by the House and Senate, millions of Americans will lose coverage, including children, new moms, seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities. Medicaid pays for 6 out of 10<\/a> of residents in nursing homes, with 5.6 million<\/a> Americans counting on Medicaid for their long-term care bills.<\/p>\n

Rep. Nick Begich, a Republican who represents Alaska\u2019s only congressional district, where a third of residents are enrolled in Medicaid, tells TIME that he wants \u201cto make sure that our nation\u2019s most vulnerable populations continue to be supported by programs like Medicaid.\u201d While he didn\u2019t share how he would vote, he said he plans to \u201censure that Medicaid is preserved.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rep. Tony Gonzales, a Texas Republican who also has a large constituency enrolled in the program, co-authored a letter with seven other House Republicans representing large Hispanic populations urging Speaker Johnson to rethink the GOP\u2019s potential cuts on Medicaid. Gonzales met with Speaker Johnson on Monday and told TIME afterwards that he plans to continue their dialogue. \u201cWe will cut waste and fraud while investing in our national security without pulling the rug out from under millions of Americans,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

But the uncertainty leaves Speaker Johnson and his leadership team in a tight spot. With the House\u2019s razor-thin 218-215 majority, the GOP can afford only a handful of defections\u2014making it increasingly unlikely that the party will be able to unite behind a budget that includes Medicaid cuts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we look good,\u201d Johnson told reporters as he was leaving the Capitol Monday night. \u201cI mean we\u2019re having very productive conversations. As you all know, this is all part of the process and I think we\u2019re on track.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, the internal strife could have dire consequences: without a budget, the government faces the very real possibility of a shutdown in mid-March. <\/p>\n

From a political standpoint, that may present a prime opportunity for Democrats to sharpen their messaging heading into the midterms. Democrats plan to seize on any potential disarray to rally opposition to the Medicaid cuts, according to a source familiar with Democratic leadership\u2019s thinking, and could push hard to mobilize voters in Medicaid-heavy districts. Protect Our Care, a Democratic health care advocacy group formed to defend the Affordable Care Act during that last Republican trifecta in 2017, already launched a $10 million campaign titled \u201cHands Off Medicaid\u201d<\/a> and is running ads on Fox News<\/a> urging constituents to call their representatives.<\/p>\n

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters Monday that if Republicans vote for the budget, \u201cthey\u2019re going to be held accountable for raising expectations that they were going to solve the affordability crisis in America and doing the exact opposite.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sen. John Fetterman, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, tells TIME that cuts to Medicaid are \u201cunacceptable\u201d and that if Republicans \u201cwant to further damage their brand \u2026 that\u2019s their prerogative.\u201d<\/p>\n

For House Republicans, the stakes are high. They must navigate the competing pressures from their own party\u2019s hard-line budget conservatives, the promises they and Trump made to constituents, and the threat of a government shutdown that could play into the Democrats\u2019 hands.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not like I\u2019m being soft or don\u2019t think we need to change a whole lot of stuff,\u201d Van Drew says. \u201cI\u2019m one of these people that was caught in the middle that wants to do the right thing by real people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s being conservative, and there\u2019s being extreme,\u201d he adds. \u201cThose are two different things.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Around a dozen House Republicans are uneasy about the prospect of voting for their party\u2019s budget proposal over potential cuts to Medicaid, according to several people familiar with the conversations. And with only a narrow majority in the House, GOP leaders are now navigating an increasingly volatile path, where the fate of the budget, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":511,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=510"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}