BREAKING: House Republicans just passed their budget resolution 217-215 that would virtually guarantee deep cuts to Medicaid and food stamps, all to fund a major tax break for the ultrawealthy… and still add trillions to the national debt.
— Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen.bsky.social) February 25, 2025 at 8:24 PM
About half an hour ago, every House Republican who won election in 2024 in districts that were less than R+18 in terms of the Partisan Voter Index, voted for the first time to dramatically reduce Medicaid spending. They aren’t saying that is what they are doing. Instead the reconciliation instructions are telling the Energy and Commerce committee to cut spending by $880 billion dollars over a decade. There isn’t much money in that committee’s jurisdiction that is not Medicaid. It is a vote to seek massive Medicaid cuts.
Every Democrat who was present (one is undergoing chemo right now) voted against this measure.
Medicaid covers just about 23% of all Americans. In some Republican represented districts, it covers 60% of the population.
#CA22 (David Valadao, R) must be sweating bullets right now.
— Charles Gaba ✡️ (@charlesgaba.com) February 25, 2025 at 4:09 PM
Medicaid is a critical safety net. Almost every hospital depends on Medicaid and Medicaid expansion to operate. In most districts, the large hospital chain is one of the top three employers.
Medicaid is critical for kids. Medicaid is critical for the elderly. Medicaid is a critical resource for anyone who goes through a rough patch or has a serious lifelong medical burden. Medicaid is critical to reduce substance use deaths. Medicaid is critical.
So this is a fight to the pain.
Something Sweet
SpaceUnit
What is the state of play going forward? Does this now advance to the Senate?
FelonyGovt
I had hoped we’d get rid of David Valadao last election, but it was not to be. I wonder how we can impress on his constituents that he just voted to cut them off from health care.
Starfish (she/her)
One of the things that you might not know that I do wonder about is rural medical access. With these districts that rely heavily on Medicaid, is this cut going to be enough to destroy their local hospital IF they have one?
dmsilev
@SpaceUnit: I think it might? But the Senate already has its own view of a bill, and it’s very different.
Still, “your Republican Representative voted to kick Mom and Grandpa out of their nursing homes so that Elon Musk could get a tax cut” is now accurate.
WTFGhost
Damn straight.
bbleh
One thing this whole sordid, destructive mess has made clear to me is what utter cowards are the vast majority of Congress-critters — in BOTH parties.
Republicans — who I have no doubt know perfectly well both what they’re doing and the long-term risks it poses not just to their constituents and the nation (trifling as those may be) but (in many if not most cases) to their own political survival — are unwilling to risk any kind of short-term blowback from the Orange Guy or the Flying Monkeys. And Democrats — who know the same things and could actually gain politically by taking a principled stand (oh yeah, and also the good-for-the-country thing, whateverrr) — nevertheless (with a few exceptions) hide under their desks and meep about their powerlessness, emerging only for votes they are destined to lose.
They’re allowing themselves to be buffaloed, and the system to crash around them, and apparently all they care about is keeping their nice offices and staff for a little while longer.
Some state-level officials seem to have some spine, and we’ve still got local-level organizations, which are foundations for campaigns at all levels, and with whom I’m happy to participate. And there are a few national-level exceptions. But I gotta say, I never expected most of them to fold so quickly.
Doc Sardonic
@Starfish (she/her): Quite possibly, the other high probability thing if I am thinking in the right direction, David feel free to correct if wrong, is that nursing homes are going to be sending Memaw and/or Pawpaw home to be with their kids unless the kids have Assets.
David Anderson
@SpaceUnit: This is merely an instruction. There are still a lot more steps. The House Republicans passed their reconciliation instruction in 2017 for Repeal and Replace on 1/13/17.
https://klinelaw.libguides.com/c.php?g=608161
Once reconciliation instructions are passed in both chambers, the actual bills have to be written.
Each committee mentioned in the reconciliation instruction has to meet or exceed their target for cuts or new spending. In 2017, this took the House GOP until May 3, 2017. And then that bill got sent to the Senate where it died.
The Senate spent several months throwing all sorts of spaghetti against the wall to see what could get 51 votes. McConnell thought Skinny Repeal would be enough to get a bill through the Senate and to conference committee. All the Dems plus Murkowski, Collins and McCain voted that down.
We’re still in the 2nd inning with a hard deadline of 10/1/2025 before current reconciliation instructions expire.
David Anderson
@Doc Sardonic: Assuming 880 billion in cuts get signed into law, yes.
SpaceUnit
@dmsilev:
You know, we’re less than two months into this shitshow but my one and only consolation right now is knowing that a lot of Americans that voted for trump are the ones who’ll be getting screwed good and hard.
As I type this some government worker or contractor a week away from retirement is slumped on the sofa reading their termination letter while their MAGA hat hangs from a hook on the wall next to the door.
And the others, the innocents, I feel very sorry for.
Glory b
@bbleh: Stop both siding this.
Be better than the New York Times.
Ohio Mom
Gulp. As I have pointed out before, Medicaid Waivers underwrite essential services and supports for disabled adults: personal aides, day programs, transportation, medical equipment (wheelchairs, etc), group home staff and programming, case management, job coaching, doctors visits, meds and other medical treatments…
And providing all that is a large network of government agencies and nonprofits. The nonprofits that for example, provide housing options, run day and work programs — they don’t have diverse income streams, they are kept in businesses by Medicaid dollars.
The Medicaid money never goes near the disabled adult. When they sign up for a day program, the nonprofit running the day program gets the money. It’s a clumsy system to make sure individuals can’t keep money for themselves.
So here you have disabled adults cut off from their lifelines, the programs that keep them engaged in life and their communities AND all the soon to be laid off staff from the non-profits.
Immiseration, here we come!
Mai Naem mobil
@SpaceUnit: about the only stuff I’ve been enjoying reading are the leopard eating face reddit thread and the handle on bluesky. I still say the GOP should be a little worried about hurting people to the point where they have nothing to lose and are ready to so some really stupid dangerous stuff.
azlib
@bbleh:
Please get real. The Dems are in the minority. They can do nothing to stop this resolution when every Republican votes “yes”. It will be used as a campaign issue and hopefully rural hospitals and people on Medicaid in red districts will push back.
WaterGirl
@bbleh:
Rachel Interviews Hakeem Jeffries:
Math Guy
My mother has exhausted her life savings and now stays in assisted living in a Medicaid room. My youngest brother is medically disabled and is kept alive because of Medicaid. I don’t think my family’s situation is all that unusual. This is just f*****g insane. How long can this last?
WaterGirl
@azlib: I listened to an interview with Hakeem Jeffries a couple of weeks ago, and the interviewer asked him why the Dems are not using their leverage.
Jeffries replied: “What leverage? They have the White House, the House, and the Sennate. We have on leverage.”
Which is true. Dems can put up a fight, but we haven no leverage.
Jay
https://www.reddit.com/r/LeopardsAteMyFace/comments/1iy7zoc/house_budget/#lightbox
A list of the top 15 Districts, (all R for some reason) that are going to get slammed hard by Medicaid and Medicare cuts.
WaterGirl
@Math Guy: I’m really sorry to hear about your family situation. So stressful and scary. So needless and senseless.
Another Scott
Thanks for bringing the receipts.
The way forward is to vote the monsters out. They cannot be trusted to do anything even approaching the right and sensible thing for the country. This vote shows that fact to everyone.
Our guiding light must be to oppose every monstrous act they try to force on the rest of us, and keep focused on doing everything we can to win every gettable seat we can going forward. We have to do both. It’s essential.
Thanks.
Best wishes,
Scott.
NickM
This is probably the clearest sign yet that they don’t expect normal elections again. Not saying they’re right, or won’t pay for it dearly, but that’s what I think they think.
Ohio Mom
@Math Guy: I keep thinking maybe the nursing home industry is strong enough to fight back. They already bleed dry their residents until all that is left to cover their bills is Medicaid. Medicaid is a pillar of their business model.
I don’t know where that leaves disabled adults like your brother and my son though.
SpaceUnit
@Mai Naem mobil:
But not actually vote for a Democrat.
tobie
I guess it wouldn’t have made a difference if Grijalva had been there. The vote would have been 217-216 instead of 217-215. Are there two vacant seats in the House right now? Are those the two upcoming Florida races?
Baud
@SpaceUnit:
Nail. Head.
Eunicecycle
@Glory b: thank you.
YY_Sima Qian
Well, the Repubs sure are sharpening the contradictions for us.
TBone
It’s Chinchilla time at Casa TBone again. Antifa cowgirl rawk
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gnPKYVkK_iA
Anger translator fight song!
cckids
@Ohio Mom: This, ALL of this.
My disabled son passed 9 years ago; if he were still here I would be incoherent with fear. Medicaid kept him alive and helped make that life worth living. This is so wrong and misguided.
ETA: Yes, this shit is exactly the type of thing that makes people think “I’ve got nothing left to lose”.
VFX Lurker
Excellent Princess Bride reference…and sadly apt.
Another Scott
As David said, it gets harder for them from here.
They may still burn the place down, but there are many ways that they can fail.
Best wishes,
Scott.
Glory b
@azlib: “I insist that Democrats do something, but I refuse to say what that something is.
Then if they actually do something, I can complain that they didn’t do the something I wanted them to do.”
There are Democratic members of Congress who just gave birth, were hospitalized, undergoing chemo, who came back to DC to vote.
RevRick
@dmsilev: Rep. Melanie Stansbury N.M. decried this as a “blueprint for suffering.” Both individuals and communities will suffer, because the massive spending cuts will squeeze their personal and community resources. And all in order to shovel $4.5 trillion into the laps of those who already have a ton of money.
Ohio Mom
@cckids: I remember when your son died, and now I’m thinking, That was nine years ago? My god I’ve been here at Balloon Juice for a long time.
Suzanne
@Mai Naem mobil:
They’re not really acting like they want to avoid future Luigis.
bbleh
@azlib: nobody expects them to defeat legislation when they’re in the minority, have more members out for medical reasons, and are facing a majority who probably are under death threats if they don’t vote right. But imo they sure oughta do more than form task forces and appear on the Capitol steps once in a blue moon.
They’re POLITICIANS. Jeffries talks about “action in the communities” that “will continue,” but it’s the last thing on his list, and as Maddow pointed out, what’s happened so far is “very grass-roots.” They’re not out there stirring up trouble the way they should be.
Oh never mind, just ranting. It’s up to us at the state and local levels, to cause trouble, get media attention, and humanize the terrible impacts of Republican policies. National Dems — phooey.
HopefullyNotcassandra
@Starfish (she/her):
Short answer yes.
For a longer discussion, you can start here https://www.opb.org/article/2024/04/22/rural-hospitals-in-crisis-mode-with-situation-worsening-says-new-report/
The vulture capitalists are circling too. Many rural hospitals have already been scavenged. Many don’t deliver babies or chemotherapy. It is a disaster. The GOP has no solution, only more useless tax cuts for billionaires.
cmorenc
@NickM:
One main tactic in any 2026 elections they do lose by modest margins is to then spin up grounds to disqualify voters who cast ballots by claiming flaws in their registration, not their eligibility to register. Exactly the tactic in the ongoing litigation over an NC Supreme Court seat election they lost by 700+ votes, in which they are trying to have the NC Supreme Court disqualify 60k voters (who are predominately D, many of whom are black).
Jay
@bbleh:
If you look at the history, from Civil Rights to BLM, it was not the Electeds in many cases that “stirred up trouble”, it was the grassroots.
You are also living in a media ecosystem where DJTdiot can say that the sky is green, and the media will sanewash the shit out of that but when a Democratic reps says the sky is obviously blue, it will not be reported.
And 45% of the American public will walk around for the rest of the year saying the sky is green.
Glory b
@bbleh: How do you know what’s on his list?
Causing trouble changes the equation how?
Percysowner
@NickM:
I agree and I’m not sure they aren’t right. I truly am expecting a martial law declaration and a suspension of elections with our God Emperor appointing representatives and Senators. Will people stand for it? I don’t know. I do know that the ReThugs saw that China stopped dissent in Tiananmen Square all those years ago and Trump and Musk won’t hesitate to use the same tactics.
tobie
@bbleh: 78% of the unsolicited recommendations on TikTok went to the Alternative for Germany (AfD) in the run-up to the German election. I mention this because it explains the odds we’re up against. No one reads newspapers; few watch cable; folks get their info–if they get info at all–from YouTube & Twitch channels and podcasts that are themselves boosted by rightwingers or rightwing-friendly adversaries. I really don’t know how Dem messaging gets through in that kind of media environment. Maybe members of Congress in safe blue districts should adopt a red district to make visits and generate some buzz. Maybe weekly organizing sessions a la Indivisible need to be conducted at a national level. I really don’t know. The party will need to think of ways to break through to the broader public. Since not every elected is made to be a media sensation, they’re going to have to think of a formula.
MazeDancer
People sentenced to die so billionaires can get richer. Makes no sense.
Captain C
@Glory b:
“They should have read my mind or guessed right.”
Captain C
@Suzanne:
They may be more worried about the equivalent on their side.
Eolirin
@Ohio Mom: This is going to be very bad.
Eolirin
@Another Scott: If this goes through the entire process and they make these kinds of cuts electoral actions will be entirely too late for those of us who will die when these vital supports go away.
But sure. It’s all the rest of you can do, absent an uprising that’s not going to happen. And you better do it.
All we can do is die. I hope the rest of you can make that mean something instead of it simply being senseless.
strange visitor (from another planet)
@Eolirin: yup. i’ve got crohn’s. i’m bipolar. i live on medicare, medicaid and SSI. those go away, i’m fucked.
Mike S
A good list of republicans who are completely fucking their constituents.
Citizen Alan
@cckids: Same here. I thank God my parents aren’t alive to see this. My father nearly died in a tractor accident in 2010, and without Medicaid, the helicopter that landed in my parents back yard to ferry him to Memphis ALONE would have bankrupted my mother.
AM in NC
@FelonyGovt: THIS is the key point. How do we make it clear to the Republican (and non-) voters that REPUBLICANS ARE DOING THIS TO US, and if we want something different, we must NEVER, EVER vote for Republicans, at ANY level of government until they stop trying to harm us in service to the international billionaire class.
How do we penetrate their disinformation bubble or their complete disengagement from politics?
Billboards on drive-routes they can’t ignore? Holding up posters at intersections? Sheets over overpasses? Sticky notes posted everywhere? Bombarding social media so we shift the algos?
I don’t have the money, and we don’t have the time to stand up new popular media outlets. So we are going to have to (all together) figure out how to get these messages out to most Americans.
azlib
@bbleh:
“National Dems”? Each of the Dem reps come from a district with a constituency. Their constituencies has different interests and priorities which are probably not your or my number one priority. The Democratic Party is a broad coalition and getting it to move in a single direction with one voice is difficult at best. I think it is a good sign that all Dem reps voted “no”. As has been pointed out, we are early in this process. Of course the more objections to what Republicans are doing the better.