Republican leaders want to cut billions from Medicaid, but some of their colleagues are pushing back because they represent larger-than-average Medicaid populations, Kelly reports.
A POLITICO review of enrollment in Medicaid by congressional district found that 11 Republicans in competitive seats represent larger-than-average Medicaid populations — collectively, nearly 2.7 million recipients. A vote to cut the program presents a politically sensitive decision that may come back to haunt them in 2026.
Why it matters: That dissension could grow considering that President Donald Trump has made the GOP more appealing to the working class.
With a 218-215 House split — the tightest in modern history — Republicans must fight for every seat during the midterms to keep control of the chamber. And they can lose only one vote in the House and still pass their budget bill.
House Republican leaders plan to use Medicaid cuts to pay for tax relief, border security and energy production in the coming weeks.
The Democratically aligned group Protect Our Care is targeting several Republicans in the most competitive districts with ads urging them to stop the cuts, including California’s David Valadao and Ken Calvert, New York’s Mike Lawler, Pennsylvania’s Robert Bresnahan and Washington’s Dan Newhouse.
It may be having an effect.
More than 3 in 5 of Valadao’s constituents — more than 470,000 people — rely on Medicaid, according to an NYU Langone Health estimate. He was among six Republican representatives and two territorial delegates who recently signed a letter to Speaker Mike Johnson warning that “slashing Medicaid would have serious consequences, particularly in rural and predominantly Hispanic communities.”
Also among the signers were Bresnahan and Rep. Juan Ciscomani, a second-term Republican from Arizona who represents Tucson suburbs and rural areas to the east. He won reelection by less than 3 percentage points. Nearly a quarter of his constituents rely on Medicaid.
Some Senate Republicans have begun pushing back against major cuts to Medicaid. Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, where more than 21 percent of the population is enrolled in Medicaid, told HuffPost he doesn’t support massive cuts to the program that House Republican leaders are weighing.
Hawley joined Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) in the early hours of Friday morning in backing a Democratic amendment to the Senate budget resolution that would prevent tax cuts for the wealthy if any Medicaid funding is cut.
The rest of the Republican caucus voted it down.