Democrats used President Trump’s address to Congress on Tuesday to ramp up pressure on Republicans over potential Medicaid cuts, homing in on an issue they think will resonate among voters for the next two years leading into the midterm elections.
Ahead of the address, Democrats invited Medicaid beneficiaries who rely on the program to attend, many of whom have significant medical expenses.
During the speech, Democrats chanted and waved signs that read “SAVE MEDICAID.”
Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) was escorted from the chamber just minutes into the speech after standing up and heckling the president, shouting out “You have no mandate to cut Medicaid.”
“I was making it clear to the president that he has no mandate to cut Medicaid,” Green told reporters afterward. “I have people who are very fearful, these are poor people and they all need Medicaid in their lives when it comes to their health care.”
Trump avoided any mention of Medicaid in his Tuesday speech, despite his consistent pledges that he won’t cut the program.
“Trump not mentioning Medicaid at the State of the Union is the game. He doesn’t talk about it, what he fears, and he knows it’s dynamite. The House Republicans know that it’s dynamite for them, and that’s why they’re talking about not hosting town halls,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said on Instagram Live following Trump’s speech.
Democratic attacks largely hinge on the GOP budget plan — the vehicle Republicans are using to slash trillions of dollars in spending to enact Trump’s agenda, which includes extending his first-term tax cuts.
Republicans have not voted to cut Medicaid, but House Republicans advanced a budget resolution nearly on party lines last week calling for at least $2 trillion in spending cuts, kicking off the reconciliation process that will allow the Senate to bypass the filibuster and pass a bill with only 51 votes.
Under the resolution, the Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees Medicaid, has been tasked with identifying at least $880 billion in cuts to programs under its jurisdiction. The Congressional Budget Office issued a report Wednesday finding that those savings are not achievable without cuts to Medicaid.
Trump, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Republican leaders argue the savings will come largely from weeding out waste, fraud and abuse while also expanding work requirements for some adults receiving benefits.
But analysts and experts say such steep cuts will be nearly impossible to achieve without cutting Medicaid or Medicare benefits.
Many Democrats have coalesced around a common warning: Republicans are trying to cut your entitlements to pay for tax cuts for billionaires.
“What we are seeing is the Robin Hood principle in reverse — taking from the poor and giving to the rich,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said in a livestreamed response to Trump on Tuesday night.
The progressive nonprofit group House Majority Forward launched a national cable ad campaign this week focusing on Medicaid cuts.
“They claimed they’d lower costs. Instead, Trump and Speaker Johnson are set to kick millions off of health insurance … all to fund massive tax cuts for Elon Musk and billionaires,” the ad states.
The group also started running TV and digital ads in nearly two dozen House districts this week, attacking vulnerable House Republicans who voted for the budget resolution.
Moderate Republicans in swing districts, especially those who represent significant populations of Medicaid beneficiaries, have raised concerns about Medicaid cuts.
They demanded firm assurances that those constituents would not lose health coverage, before ultimately siding with GOP leadership and voting in favor of the resolution.
Republicans’ attempt to cut Medicaid spending as part of an ObamaCare repeal effort during Trump’s first administration failed, and the ensuing controversy contributed to their loss of the majority in the 2018 midterm elections.
“At the end of the day, will [Republicans] decide that they’re more worried about Donald Trump than they are their constituents? They might, but that’s going to be a real dangerous choice,” said Brad Woodhouse, president of the Democratic-aligned health advocacy group Protect Our Care. “Medicaid is more popular than the Affordable Care Act has ever been. It’s almost as popular as Medicare.”
Medicare is the federal program to support health care for Americans over 65, along with some younger people with disabilities.
Woodhouse said there’s broad concern among the public about Medicaid being cut, and he thinks Democrats have the right message linking it to Trump’s tax cuts.
“I don’t know that every tactic is effective, but I think, generally speaking, Democrats highlighting that is super important and super helpful to one of two causes,” Woodhouse said. “One, getting [Republicans] to back off, or two, making them pay a price for doing it.”
