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"He knows his plan to cut nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid is so deeply unpopular that he would rather sweep it under the rug and not mention it at all."
President Donald Trump's address to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night was the longest in recent history, giving him ample opportunity to lay out his complete legislative agenda to the American public.
While Trump highlighted his push for "permanent income tax cuts"—which would disproportionately flow to the rich—he did not once mention that he has endorsed a House GOP plan to offset some of the costs of those tax cuts by taking a sledgehammer to Medicaid, which provides health coverage to more than 70 million low-income people in the United States.
In fact, the only mention of Medicaid during the address came not from Trump but from Rep. Al Green (D-Texas), who yelled at the beginning of the speech that the president "has no mandate to cut Medicaid."
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) subsequently ordered the sergeant-at-arms to remove Green from the House chamber.
"Trump can try to run from his war on American healthcare, but he can't hide from it."
Medicaid cuts are extremely unpopular with U.S. voters, including Trump supporters, according to recent survey data. And Republicans know it: Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.), who voted for the budget resolution calling for huge cuts to Medicaid, warned Trump in a phone call last week that the GOP "could very easily lose the majority for it."
Brad Woodhouse, president of the advocacy group Protect Our Care, said that could help explain why Trump omitted any mention of House Republicans' proposal for $880 billion in cuts to Medicaid over the next 10 years—cuts that could strip healthcare from tens of millions of people across the country.
Protect Our Care organized a "Hands Off Medicaid" display outside the White House ahead of the president's address.
"Donald Trump can try to run from his war on American healthcare, but he can't hide from it," Woodhouse said in a statement late Tuesday. "He knows his plan to cut nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid is so deeply unpopular that he would rather sweep it under the rug and not mention it at all."
"While people are struggling to pay their bills, he wants to raise the cost of healthcare and take away coverage that millions of people count on," Woodhouse added. "Trump is breaking the promises he made to the American people just to provide his billionaire friends with tax cuts."
No plan to lower health care costs. No solutions to bring down prescription drug prices. Not a single mention of Medicaid, which covers more than 72M Americans. Trump has no answers for the health care crises facing working families—because they’re the ones making it worse.
— Protect Our Care (@protectourcare.org) March 4, 2025 at 11:02 PM
As Trump celebrated the destructive actions he's taken during the opening weeks of his second White House term and rattled off examples of purportedly wasteful spending he claimed was identified by the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) quipped that "this list is so long and taking up so much real estate in his speech it's almost like they want to distract from their massive cuts to Medicaid."
"Trump backed the GOP into a big corner with his 'balanced budget' point," Ocasio-Cortez added, referring to the president's expressed desire to "do what has not been done in 24 years: balance the federal budget."
"The ONLY way the House GOP could even think about upholding their 'no cuts to Medicaid' swing seat promises and their spending cut mandates is deficit spending and bad math," the New York Democrat wrote. "Now they have to gut Medicaid and hand it to Elon in public."
Sharon Parrott, president of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, observed that the recently passed House GOP budget resolution's tax cuts "are so large that even with massive cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, and student loans that budget would INCREASE the deficit."
During his address, Trump claimed that "the next phase" of his economic plan is "for this Congress to pass tax cuts for everybody."
But an analysis published last week by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) found that the Medicaid cuts outlined in House Republicans' budget resolution would "squander most of the meager benefits from the [Tax Cuts and Jobs Act] extension even for families in the middle fifth of the income distribution."
"Medicaid cuts will substantially reduce incomes for families in the bottom 40% (the bottom two-fifths) of the income distribution," EPI found. "For the bottom fifth, $880 billion in Medicaid cuts over the next decade would translate into Medicaid benefit reductions equal to 7.4% of their money income. For the second fifth, these cuts would equal 1.7% of their money income."
In his response to the president's speech Tuesday night, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said that "in so many words, Trump urged Congress to pass his 'big, beautiful budget.'"
"Do you know what's really in it? This budget would cut Medicaid by $880 billion. Oh, I guess Trump forgot to talk about that," said Sanders. "According to one estimate, it means that up to 36 million Americans, including millions of children, would be thrown off the health insurance they have."
"A 90-minute speech tonight," the senator added, "not one word about throwing millions of kids off of the health insurance they have."
"We expect every Republican who voted for the budget resolution to hold a town hall during recess on what parts of Medicaid and SNAP they want to cut," said the national director of the Working Families Party.
In the wake of their passage late Tuesday of a budget resolution that sets the stage for massive cuts to Medicaid and other key programs, House Republicans who supported the measure with near unanimity faced calls to explain their vote to constituents who will be directly harmed if the proposed cuts become law.
"We expect every Republican who voted for the budget resolution to hold a town hall during recess on what parts of Medicaid and SNAP they want to cut," Maurice Mitchell, national director of the Working Families Party, said in a statement following Tuesday's vote.
"If you stand behind this plan," Mitchell added, "stop cowering from your constituents."
In recent days, GOP lawmakers have faced angry audiences at town halls in their home districts as voters—including Republican constituents—express outrage over President Donald Trump and Elon Musk's lawless assault on federal agencies and the party's broader legislative agenda, which includes destructive attacks on key programs to help finance trillions of dollars in tax breaks largely for the rich.
"Every single swing district Republican voted to cut Medicaid so they can shovel cash to their billionaire backers."
The intensifying constituent wrath has left Republicans "weary and wary of in-person town hall meetings," NBC Newsreported Tuesday.
Citing an unnamed GOP aide, the outlet reported that "House Republican leaders are urging lawmakers to stop engaging in" town halls altogether.
In response to NBC's story, Indivisible co-executive director Ezra Levin noted that "there were like eight GOP town halls last week in the entire country."
"Ninety-five percent of GOP members were already hiding from constituents," Levin wrote on social media. "The fact that they think EIGHT is too many is a real sign of how scared they are of constituents and owning this agenda."
Last night, every single swing district Republican voted to cut Medicaid so they can shovel cash to their billionaire backers. If you’ve got an R representative, call now to let them know you’re furious: indivisible.org/resource/cal...
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— Leah Greenberg (@leahgreenberg.bsky.social) February 26, 2025 at 7:41 AM
Survey data indicates that the deep spending cuts congressional Republicans are pursuing are extremely unpopular, including with their own base. One poll released earlier this week found that 71% of Trump voters oppose Medicaid cuts and 60% oppose cuts to federal nutrition assistance.
Under the budget resolution that House Republicans passed late Tuesday, the committees that oversee Medicaid and SNAP are instructed to find over $1 trillion in combined cuts—a clear indication that the two programs are in the party's crosshairs, despite GOP leaders' claims to the contrary.
"This bill doesn't even mention the word Medicaid a single time," House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) told reporters Tuesday.
But as The New York Timesobserved, the resolution's instructions to the House Energy and Commerce Committee—which has jurisdiction over Medicaid—to slash $880 billion in spending over the next decade leaves Republicans with few options other than large cuts to the program that provides healthcare to more than 70 million low-income Americans, including children.
"If Republicans want to avoid major cuts to Medicaid, the largest pot of available money is in the other big government health insurance program: Medicare," the Times observed.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) claimed Tuesday that Republicans are only targeting "fraud, waste, and abuse" in Medicaid—a statement that one expert called "a smokescreen for the tired, harmful playbook to gut the Medicaid program that was tried and failed in 2017 as part of the highly unpopular effort to repeal" the Affordable Care Act.
"House Republican leaders have not really moved on," Edwin Park, a research professor at the Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy's Center for Children and Families, wrote earlier this week. "Today, they are still pursuing the same kind of draconian Medicaid cuts that would take away coverage and access from tens of millions of low-income children, parents, pregnant women, people with disabilities, seniors, and other adults."
Shortly after Tuesday's vote, Protect Our Care announced a new flurry of ads targeting Republicans in competitive districts who backed the budget resolution, which still must be approved by the GOP-controlled U.S. Senate before the party can begin crafting its filibuster-proof reconciliation package.
The first round of ads, according to Protect Our Care, is aimed at Reps. David Valadao (R-Calif.), Ken Calvert (R-Calif.), Young Kim (R-Calif.), Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), David Schweikert (R-Ariz.), Ryan Mackenzie (R-Pa.), and Scott Perry (R-Pa.).
"Instead of standing up for their constituents' health, Republicans fell in line to vote in favor of ripping away healthcare from millions of Americans—all so they can give a tax break to billionaires and big corporations," said Leslie Dach, the chair of Protect Our Care. "Medicaid is popular across the board with voters, no matter where they live or who they voted for."
"By ignoring the impact of these cuts on their constituents, every House Republican who voted for this horrific budget is playing a dangerous game," Dach added. "If Republicans proceed with these cuts, we will hold them accountable."
Medicaid defenders are holding events across the country this week, starting Tuesday, to raise public awareness and mobilize Americans against the House GOP's proposal for $880 billion in cuts to the program that provides healthcare to tens of millions of low-income people, including children.
The in-person and virtual events were organized by the advocacy group Protect Our Care, which is also expanding its ad and billboard campaigns against the budget resolution that House Republicans unveiled last week.
The GOP budget blueprint calls for at least $4 trillion in tax cuts that would disproportionately benefit the richest Americans. Those tax breaks would be partially offset by steep cuts to Medicaid, federal nutrition assistance, and other programs that many working-class families rely on to make ends meet or survive through financial emergencies.
If enacted, Protect Our Care warned, the GOP plan would result in "millions losing coverage, including children, new moms, seniors, and people with disabilities."
"Americans across party lines oppose cuts to Medicaid, and new polling finds that a majority of Americans think the government should spend more on healthcare—not less," the group said. "Throughout the week, speakers will discuss how these unpopular cuts will hurt families and call on lawmakers to protect access to healthcare, not take it away."
The events will kick off Tuesday with a "Medicaid Defense Press Conference" in Vista, California featuring U.S. Rep. Mike Levin (D-Calif.). Later in the week, similar events will be held in New York, North Carolina, Arizona, Pennsylvania, and Maine.
"House Republicans are putting Medicaid on the chopping block—a move that would rip lifesaving healthcare away from tens of thousands of their own constituents."
The Protect Our Care events come as House Democrats are beginning to target Republicans in battleground districts in preparation for the looming high-stakes congressional fight over Medicaid.
The House Majority PAC (HMP), a top Democratic super PAC, wrote in a memo Tuesday that "while Donald Trump and House Republicans promised to 'love and cherish' Medicaid, House Republicans have gone full Matt Bevin"—a reference to the former Republican Kentucky governor who aggressively pursued Medicaid work requirements during his time in office.
Republicans in the U.S. House are now looking to impose Medicaid work requirements nationwide, even though most Medicaid recipients under the age of 65 already work. Research has repeatedly shown that work requirements do little to boost employment—but they are effective at booting people from programs by adding onerous bureaucratic hurdles.
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimated earlier this month that the GOP's plan to impose work requirements on Medicaid recipients—which House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) called "common sense"—could strip benefits from around 36 million people across the country.
In its memo on Tuesday, HMP spotlighted the number of Medicaid recipients represented by House Republicans in competitive districts across the U.S.:
"The cuts currently pushed by House Republicans will be a defining issue in 2026, and HMP will hold them accountable for abandoning their constituents to further enrich the wealthiest Americans and biggest corporations," the Democratic PAC said.
"In battleground congressional districts across the country," the organization added, "House Republicans are putting Medicaid on the chopping block—a move that would rip lifesaving healthcare away from tens of thousands of their own constituents—roughly half of whom are children."