During a widely covered weekend town hall at which New York Republican Rep. Mike Lawler was forced to answer for the Trump administration’s many loathed and lawless actions, the Republican got more than an earful from residents of his swing district about the party’s intended cuts to Medicaid.
Lawler did what some of his Republican colleagues in the House and the Senate have been doing for months, attempting to downplay and obscure how exactly and in what form sweeping cuts to Medicaid will materialize in the massive budget package that Trump has directed members to pass to kickstart his fiscal agenda.
The legislation is supposed to include tax cuts and massive federal spending cuts while also bolstering Trump’s immigration and energy agenda. The budget blueprint resolution that passed both chambers, unlocking the reconciliation process that will be used to pass the bill on a 50-vote — not 60-vote — margin in the Senate, directs the House Energy and Commerce Committee to identify $880 billion in spending cuts over 10 years. Regardless of how Republicans have attempted to publicly deflect in recent months, the implication of this aspect of the framework is clear: the House Energy and Commerce Committee has jurisdiction over Medicaid and Medicare spending, and the two programs account for the vast majority of the funds the committee oversees. As a result, if Republicans hold true to their promises not to cut Medicare, the main chunk of those targeted cuts will have to come out of Medicaid.
Lawler joined other vulnerable Republicans from swing districts in downplaying the degree to which House Republicans must stick to the directives outlined in the budget resolution passed by both chambers. It’s similar to the rhetorical work President Trump did to get hardliners who want deeper cuts to federal spending outlined in the budget resolution on board with proposal. Per the Times’ coverage of the town hall:
“When it comes to Medicaid, I have been very clear: I am not cutting benefits for any eligible recipient,” Mr. Lawler said.
He urged his questioners to disregard a budget blueprint he recently voted for that called for slashing $2 trillion in federal spending, potentially including cuts to Medicaid. “That is as good as the paper it’s written on,” he said.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee met privately today to begin discussions ahead of next week’s expected markup of the budget package, Politico reported Monday. In the days ahead, we expect to hear more calculated rhetoric from House Republicans on how they intend to carry out the sweeping $880 billion directive outlined in the budget blueprint.
There will be talk of adding work requirements to Medicaid enrollment (in other words, placing restrictions on enrollment that will ultimately result in fewer people qualifying for Medicaid coverage). We expect to hear talk of “per capita caps” (which is just another tool for reducing federal spending on the program, requiring states to pick up the tab or deal with the repercussions of residents losing their health insurance). Even the language that vulnerable Republicans are using to soften how exactly they intend to enact sweeping cuts is coded. Per Politico:
Moderate House Republicans and those who hail from swing districts have said they don’t want major cuts to Medicaid to finance the bill, but have left the door open to reducing the federal share of payments in states that have expanded Medicaid under the 2010 health law. But that could lead states to make benefit cuts, raise taxes or slash other programs to fill budget holes.
We’ve been beating this drum for a bit now, ever since House Republicans first unveiled their version of a budget blueprint. Stay tuned for our ongoing coverage of the obfuscation effort as it plays out in real time.
Trump’s DOJ Dismantles Voting Section
In the latest shakeup within Donald Trump’s Department of Justice, all managers working in the Department of Justice’s voting section have been dismissed, according to a recent report from The Guardian.
The voting section of the DOJ is responsible for the enforcement of laws that prevent voter discrimination. The dismissed managers have been reassigned to other teams, and have been directed to stop all active investigations, but were never given a reason for their dismissal, per The Guardian.
The move comes shortly after Trump appointed Harmeet Dhillon to lead the civil rights division of the DOJ. Dhillon previously represented Trump during part of his legal battle to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Last week, Dhillon announced a new mission statement for the voting rights unit, directing department lawyers to carry out Trump’s agenda by focusing on preventing voter fraud and the virtually non-existent problem of non-citizen voting.
— Khaya Himmelman
Punishing Blue Cities
Donald Trump is expected to sign two immigration executive orders on Monday targeting sanctuary cities that he believes are not complying with his mass deportation agenda.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said one of the orders will direct Attorney General Pam Bondi and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem to “provide a list of sanctuary cities in which local officials are not complying with this federal order and are not complying with federal immigration laws.”
The announcement comes only days after a federal judge ruled that Trump’s previous effort to retaliate against sanctuary cities and deny federal funding to 16 counties and cities in California is likely unconstitutional.
— Khaya Himmelman
Disingenuous
Trump’s nominee to lead the U.S. Attorney’s office in D.C. has been trying to clean up his act a bit ahead of a possible confirmation hearing in the Senate, where he will already have to answer for his wildly Trumpian handling of the post the last few months, during which he’s held the role in an acting capacity. But, apparently, the regrets he shared about his past praise for a white supremacist may have been less than genuine:
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Who will be hurt most from their Medicaid cuts? The largest single group of Medicaid recipients: children. But since this regime is cutting the school lunch program (proportion of American children on the lunch program: >51%), I guess starving them to death will cost Medicaid less.
Republicans apply a scorched earth program on their own country and in particular, on their own constituents.
I guess we will see if their constituents notice.
Yes, but they have a plan. You know, the one about paying women $5000.00 to have a child. So, for any lives lost due to cuts in Medicaid the money they save there will just be transferred to that account. And yes, that’s really twisted. You’d think we’d be used to hearing their hypocrictal statements about how they’re the party of the family. It amazes me to watch them lie so convincingly and with an attitude that oozes sincerity. Even used car salespeople are more honest.
I look at my clientele at the store. So many of them are in motorized wheelchairs, or pulling along a mentally challenged adult child, or some other malady. I have to wonder how work requirements will even be remotely possible for some of these folks.
But the cruelty is the point.
Gee. Suddenly that five grand my wife and I will get if we have more kids looks a good way to pay for our medical bills, our kids’ school lunches, our … (snark!)