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jodey arrington
'Republicans Are Gearing Up for Class War,' Democrat Warns as GOP Pursues Huge Medicaid Cuts
"It won't be any consolation to struggling Americans that their hardship allows some rich buddy of Donald Trump's to buy a bigger yacht," said Sen. Ron Wyden.
Jan 13, 2025
Policy analysts and Democratic lawmakers raised alarm over the weekend at a leaked document indicating that House Republicans intend to pursue massive cuts to Medicaid, a program that provides sometimes lifesaving coverage to roughly 80 million people across the United States.
Near the top of a list of "spending reform options" that House Republicans are considering to help finance additional tax cuts for the rich and large corporations are proposals that would strip Medicaid coverage from millions of Americans, including children, seniors, and people with disabilities.
One of the changes listed in the leaked document, obtained by Politico last week, would convert Medicaid's funding structure to a "per-capita cap," under which the federal government would only provide states with a fixed amount of funding for each beneficiary rather than paying a percentage of states' overall Medicaid costs.
The document, which reportedly comes from the House Budget Committee, suggests the reform would result in up to $918 billion in cuts over a 10-year period.
Edwin Park, a research professor at the Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy's Center for Children and Families, noted in a blog post that such a change would "radically restructure Medicaid financing."
"These funding caps are typically designed to fail to keep pace with expected growth in healthcare costs in order to severely cut federal Medicaid spending, with those cuts growing larger and larger over time," Park wrote. "Moreover, the caps would also fail to account for any unexpected cost growth such as from another public health emergency or a new, costly drug therapy, which would make the federal funding cuts even larger than originally anticipated."
"These cuts would only help bankroll Trump's tax cuts for his billionaire friends and corporate interests."
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities warned in an
analysis published last week that cuts to federal funding under a per-capita cap "would impose significant strain on states and put millions of people at risk of losing benefits and coverage."
The document also includes a call to "Equalize Medicaid Payments for Able Bodied Adults"—a proposal seen as an indication that the GOP plans to go after the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion—and confirms that Republicans intend to push for Medicaid work requirements, which have proved disastrous in the states that have tried such mandates.
Park argued that work requirements—and the "onerous red tape" they entail—would amplify the harms of cuts to federal Medicaid funding.
"As a result, these proposals would take away coverage and access from tens of millions of low-income children, families, seniors, people with disabilities, and other adults who rely on Medicaid," Park wrote. "Moreover, because Medicaid is the largest source of federal funding for states—accounting for 56.1% of all federal funding for state budgets in 2024—these large cost-shifts to states would also threaten deep, damaging budget cuts to other state spending including for K-12 education."
Overall, the leaked Republican document proposes up to $5.7 trillion in spending cuts over 10 years—with Medicaid cuts making up $2.3 trillion of that total—as President-elect Donald Trump pushes for a sprawling reconciliation bill that includes another round of tax cuts that would disproportionately benefit the wealthiest Americans.
In addition to Medicaid cuts, the House GOP policy menu calls for slashing Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and federal nutrition assistance, repealing "major Biden health rules," and eliminating renewable energy funding under the Inflation Reduction Act.
"This won't lower costs for Americans," Rep. Mike Levin (D-Calif.) wrote in response to the GOP document. "These cuts would only help bankroll Trump's tax cuts for his billionaire friends and corporate interests."
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said the leaked policy list shows that "Republicans are gearing up for a class war against everyday families in America."
"This list outlines a plan to increase child hunger, boot tens of millions off their health insurance, and lay off hundreds of thousands of clean energy workers to fund tax handouts for the wealthy," said Wyden. "It won't be any consolation to struggling Americans that their hardship allows some rich buddy of Donald Trump's to buy a bigger yacht."
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Here's How the GOP Could Cut Over $5 Trillion—And Gut Healthcare, Climate Action
"Americans: We just want higher wages and lower costs. Republicans: We are going to take away your healthcare."
Jan 10, 2025
Some Democratic lawmakers and other critics of congressional Republicans on Friday pointed to a document obtained by Politico as just the latest evidence that the looming GOP trifecta at the federal level poses a threat to working families nationwide.
"Americans: We just want higher wages and lower costs. Republicans: We are going to take away your healthcare," Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), chair emeritus of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said in response to the reporting, which came as Republicans have taken control of both chambers of Congress and prepare for President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration in just over a week.
The one-page list originated from the House Budget Committee, chaired by Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-Texas), Politico reported, citing five unnamed sources. One of them explained that the "document is not intended to serve as a proposal, but instead as a menu of potential spending reductions for members to consider."
The document lists various policies that it claims would collectively cut up to $5.7 trillion. Republicans have been discussing how to offset the high costs of top priorities—specifically, Trump's immigration policies and plans for tax cuts that critics warn would largely benefit the wealthy, like the law he signed in 2017.
"In order to make his rich, billionaire buddies richer, Trump wants to kick millions off healthcare coverage and starve families. How does this help working families thrive?"
The policies are divided into eight sections, with headings that critics called "dystopian" and "Orwellian." The first calls for repealing "major" health rules from outgoing President Joe Biden's administration, which would supposedly cut $420 billion. The second section takes aim at Medicare, the federal health program for seniors, proposing policies that would cut $479 billion.
A large share of the potential cuts would come from section three, which lists seven potential changes to Medicaid, a program that provides health coverage to low-income people. The policies include per capita caps, work requirements, and lowering the federal medical assistance percentages (FMAP) floor.
"In order to make his rich, billionaire buddies richer, Trump wants to kick millions off healthcare coverage and starve families. How does this help working families thrive?" Michigan state Rep. Carrie Rheingans (D-47) asked on social media. "In this leaked list of cuts, 'lower FMAP floor' for Medicaid means states pay a higher proportion of Medicaid costs for enrollees—this just shoves [federal] costs to states so billionaires get more yacht money."
Section four of the document calls for "reimagining" the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to cut $151 billion, with changes that include repealing the Prevention and Public Health Fund, limiting eligibility based on citizenship status, and reclaiming $46 billion from subsidies set to expire at the end of the year.
The fifth section lays out $347 billion in cuts by "ending cradle-to-grave dependence," targeting initiatives including Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), often called food stamps.
Section six claims "reversing Biden climate policies" would cut $468 billion: $300 billion by discontinuing some provisions from the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure legislation, $112 billion by rolling back electric vehicle policies, and $56 billion by repealing green energy grants from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
The seventh section is a catchall, listing up to $1 trillion in potential cuts through moves that include ending student debt forgiveness, restricting emergency spending, and reforming federal employee benefits. Section eight identifies up to $527 in potential tax offsets from requiring Social Security numbers for the child tax credit and green energy credits.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who recently agreed to use the budget reconciliation process to cut $2.5 trillion, "can't afford any Republican defections if he wants to pass a package on party lines," Politico reported. "Even proposed cuts to green energy tax credits, worth as much as $500 billion, could be tricky—as the document notes, they depend 'on political viability.' Already 18 House Republicans—14 of whom won reelection in November—warned Johnson against prematurely repealing some of the IRA's energy tax credits, which are funding multiple manufacturing projects in GOP districts."
Sharing the report on social media Friday, Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.) stressed that "Republicans want to cut vital food and healthcare support programs to pay for a tax cut for billionaires and large corporations. The GOP wants working families to pay for their billionaire handouts."
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With Trifecta Secured, GOP Already Eyeing Destructive Healthcare Cuts
"If there are a lot of details still to be filled in," wrote one analyst, "the theme of the GOP's healthcare agenda is clear: cuts."
Nov 14, 2024
Having secured control of both chambers of the U.S. Congress and the White House starting in January, Republicans are making no secret of their intention to pursue sweeping healthcare cuts that would raise costs and imperil insurance coverage for millions of people across the country.
Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-Texas), chairman of the House Budget Committee, told reporters earlier this week that the GOP is looking to use the filibuster-evading reconciliation process to pursue cuts to "mandatory programs"—a category that includes Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.
Bobby Kogan, senior director of federal budget policy at the Center for American Progress, noted in response to Arrington's comments that Republicans attempted to cut both Medicaid and Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits that help enrollees afford health insurance.
The Republican Study Committee, of which Arrington is a member, proposed eliminating the ACA tax credits in its 2025 budget proposal—a move that could result in around 4 million people losing insurance.
The tax credits are set to expire next year, meaning Republicans could just do nothing and allow them to lapse.
Last time Republicans had a federal trifecta, they tried and failed to fully repeal the ACA—an effort that sparked a
wave of civil disobedience on Capitol Hill.
Both President-elect Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said on the campaign trail that they're looking to try again.
"We're going to replace it," Trump said during his lone debate with Vice President Kamala Harris in September—while admitting that he did not have a fully formed alternative plan.
Johnson, for his part, said during a campaign stop in Pennsylvania last month that "healthcare reform's going to be a big part of the agenda." When a voter posed the question, "No Obamacare?" Johnson replied in the affirmative, "No Obamacare."
"The ACA is so deeply ingrained, we need massive reform to make this work," he added, "and we've got a lot of ideas on how to do that."
Sarah Lueck and Allison Orris of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
wrote Wednesday that Trump's return to the White House and the GOP's capture of both chambers of Congress poses "big risks to people's ability to access and afford health coverage in Medicaid and the marketplaces."
"While Republicans have moved away from talking about their plans for changing health coverage in the U.S. as 'repeal,'" Lueck and Orris added, "Trump's first term and Republicans' recently released policy agendas suggest they may pursue policies that would have much the same result: higher costs for people, reduced access to care for vulnerable groups, and more people who are uninsured."
"Just as a grassroots movement of Americans around the country succeeded in saving the Affordable Care Act during Trump's first term, we can save Social Security and Medicare."
Even if Republicans don't succeed at enacting major legislative changes to the nation's healthcare system, Trump will still have the power to do significant damage unilaterally. Lueck and Orris noted that the first Trump administration "took numerous administrative steps that made it harder for eligible people to get coverage" and weakened consumer protections, from adding new paperwork requirements to the Medicaid enrollment process to expanding so-called "junk" insurance plans.
Vice President-elect JD Vance also suggested during the 2024 campaign that a second Trump administration could seek to roll back protections for people with preexisting conditions.
"If there are a lot of details still to be filled in, the theme of the GOP's healthcare agenda is clear: cuts," Vox's Dylan Scott wrote days before the November 5 election. "Cutting regulations. Cutting spending."
Stephanie Armour of KFF Health Newswrote following Trump's victory that his second term "will likely bring changes that scale back the nation's public health insurance programs—increasing the uninsured rate, while imposing new barriers to abortion and other reproductive care."
Medicaid is particularly vulnerable, Armour noted, with Trump and the Republican Party potentially set to pursue "the imposition of work requirements on beneficiaries in some states" and changes to how the program is funded.
"Now, the federal government pays states a variable percentage of program costs," Armour explained. "Conservatives have long sought to cap the federal allotments to states, which critics say would lead to draconian cuts."
As for Medicare, the Project 2025 agenda authored by many former members of Trump's first administration calls for making privatized Medicare Advantage plans the default enrollment option for the nation's seniors—a change that advocates say would pose an existential threat to traditional Medicare.
"Trump and Republicans will try to cut our earned benefits," Alex Lawson, executive director of the progressive advocacy group Social Security Works, warned in an op-ed for Common Dreams on Wednesday. "But just as a grassroots movement of Americans around the country succeeded in saving the Affordable Care Act during Trump's first term, we can save Social Security and Medicare."
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