GOP Votes to Advance Budget That Slashes Food Benefits, Medicaid for Millions

 

Republicans on the House Rules Committee voted late Monday to advance a budget resolution that, if translated into law, would enact painful cuts to Medicaid and federal nutrition assistance, potentially stripping critical benefits from tens of millions of low-income Americans to help fund trillions of dollars in tax giveaways that would flow primarily to the rich.

The rules panel voted 9-4 along party lines in favor of the budget blueprint, setting the stage for a House floor debate and vote as soon as Tuesday evening.

While some House Republicans have publicly and privately voiced concerns about the scale of the Medicaid cuts proposed in the budget resolution, GOP members of the rules panel on Monday rejected Democratic amendments aimed at preventing cuts to the healthcare program as well as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and other spending.

“Republicans can’t have it both ways — they can’t claim to stand up for their constituents on SNAP and Medicaid and then reject amendments that would do just that,” said Rep. Gabe Amo (D-R.I.), who sponsored the proposed changes. “My common-sense amendments would have supported these two key programs that feed hungry children and care for sick Americans. Democrats provided Republicans with several chances to stand with the many instead of the rich. They declined multiple times. I’ll continue to pull out every stop as I seek to prevent these cuts from becoming reality.”

Monday’s committee vote came after a Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) analysis found that the SNAP cuts proposed by the House GOP resolution “would result in widespread harm,” potentially taking benefits from “more than 9 million low-income people in an average month.”

“Deep SNAP cuts would worsen food insecurity, hurt local businesses, and weaken SNAP’s ability to boost jobs in every state. SNAP is highly effective at reducing food insecurity and poverty, and research links SNAP participation to better health outcomes and lower healthcare costs,” CBPP noted. “Regardless of how lawmakers impose $230 billion or more in cuts to SNAP, these cuts would make it harder for low-income families in every state to afford groceries, worsening food insecurity and hardship. Slashing low-income households’ grocery budgets would also reduce revenue for thousands of businesses in every state, with ripple effects throughout the food supply chain.”

CBPP previously estimated that House Republicans’ plans for Medicaid — specifically their push to impose work requirements — could put 36 million Americans at risk of losing health coverage.

The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) separately found that if the House GOP’s proposal for $880 billion in Medicaid cuts over the next decade becomes reality, it would “reduce incomes for the bottom 40% more than extending the [Trump tax cuts] would boost them — and the lowest-income households would fare the worst.”

“Strikingly, this is true even as the full $880 billion in Medicaid cuts would only pay for about 20% of the total cost of the [Tax Cuts and Jobs Act] — other cuts and economic damage falling on non-rich families stemming from tax cuts for the rich would still be forthcoming,” EPI’s Josh Bivens wrote last week. “Meanwhile, the TCJA boosts the incomes of the top 1% significantly, while these households do not rely in any way on Medicaid.”

Democrats are expected to unanimously oppose the House Republican budget resolution, leaving Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) with extremely narrow margins to pass the measure and move ahead with President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda. Trump has endorsed the House resolution, despite claiming to oppose cuts to Medicaid.

House Republicans must also reconcile major differences with their Senate colleagues, who want to advance Trump’s agenda in separate, smaller bills rather than one sprawling measure.

“The bill House Republicans are bringing forward tomorrow is a gift to Trump’s billionaire donors paid for by hard-working Americans who are already feeling the heat from high prices in Donald Trump’s America,” Tony Carrk, executive director of the watchdog group Accountable.US, said in a statement Monday. “In this bill, Republicans are saying the quiet part out loud: Billionaires, big companies, and special interests not only deserve a tax break, but that it should be paid for by everyday Americans.”

“For far too many Americans, this bill will only increase their everyday costs, from their healthcare to their groceries,” Carrk added. “Put simply: the bill is a betrayal of the promise that every Republican made just months ago to lower costs.”

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), a senior whip for the House Democratic caucus, wrote in a social media post on Monday that she will not “vote for a budget that gives tax breaks to billionaires and cuts critical programs for working families — including healthcare and education.”

“I will be a NO on the Republican budget resolution this week,” Jayapal added.