Democrats Blast U.S. House GOP Budget, Predicting Potential Cuts to Medicaid

WASHINGTON — Congressional Democrats at a press conference lambasted the U.S. House GOP’s budget resolution Tuesday, expressing concerns over the impact of potential tax cuts for wealthy Americans at the expense of government programs like Medicaid.

Minnesota Democratic U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, who serves as deputy chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, speaks at a press conference outside the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 25, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Shauneen Miranda/States Newsroom)

The massive tax and spending blueprint, which President Donald Trump has endorsed, proposes that Congress extend the president’s 2017 tax cuts. It would also allow the House Committee on Ways and Means to increase the deficit by up to $4.5 trillion.

The GOP-controlled House was set to vote on its resolution later Tuesday, following a Senate vote last week on its version.

“I know that I and my colleagues here today are ready to go to the mat and fight all the way until we stop this budget and finally demand that, instead of a tax break for greedy billionaires, that we actually tax those greedy billionaires and expand the programs that working people deserve,” said Texas Democratic Rep. Greg Casar.

He chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus, which held the press event  with representatives from advocacy groups People’s Action, the “Not One More” campaign, the People’s Lobby, VOCAL-TX, PUSH Buffalo and OneAmerica.

The budget resolution calls for the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees the Medicaid and Medicare health programs, to find at least $880 billion in cost savings to aid Republicans in paying for other parts of the bill.

Democrats have argued that Medicaid, the federal-state program that provides health care to low-income people, would bear the brunt of those massive cuts because there’s no other way to come up with that much in savings.

But at a separate press conference earlier Tuesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson sought to clarify that the GOP focus is on rooting out Medicaid’s “fraud, waste and abuse.”

“Do a word search for yourself — it doesn’t even mention Medicaid in the bill,” the Louisiana Republican added, referring to the budget resolution.

Democrats at the press conference disagreed. Rep. Ilhan Omar, deputy chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said, “Republicans are literally going to gut the insurance program that covers millions of children and seniors.”

“This will mean rural hospitals will close, nursing homes will shut down, addiction treatment centers will close their doors, and the most vulnerable will die because of the Republican budget,” the Minnesota Democrat said.

Sen. Chris Murphy said cuts to Medicaid would mean that “millions of working families who have insurance today — because, by the way, 24% of Americans get their health care from Medicaid … all of a sudden don’t have their health care tomorrow.”

“For what, because Elon Musk needs another billion dollars?” the Connecticut Democrat said, pointing to the ultra-wealthy entrepreneur whose U.S. DOGE Service has already taken on massive efforts to try to reduce federal government spending.

“The scope of this greed is something that we have never, ever seen before in this country, and we should not accept it as normal in the United States of America,” he added.

Last updated 4:27 p.m., Feb. 25, 2025

by Shauneen Miranda, Virginia Mercury

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