House Advances Harmful Budget Plan
Late Tuesday, House Republicans narrowly passed their budget resolution, paving the way for a reconciliation bill that advances key Trump administration priorities around tax and spending cuts.
As expected, the approved resolution directs the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, which has jurisdiction over Medicaid, to find $880 billion in savings—a number that is impossible to reach without slashing the program.
Despite rhetoric from some House Republicans about wanting to reach that target by tackling Medicaid “waste, fraud, and abuse” rather than by reducing benefits and shifting costs to states, they continue to be vague on how savings of that magnitude could be reached otherwise. These claims also run counter to the menu of Medicaid cuts they have been floating throughout the budget resolution negotiation process. Those outlined policies include destructive changes like lowering state matching rates, rolling back federal funds for the Medicaid expansion population, restructuring Medicaid by cutting and capping funding, as well as imposing burdensome work and administrative requirements.
Attention Now Turns to the Senate
There are major differences between the House and Senate on reconciliation, including on strategy. While the House wants to package all their priorities into a single large bill, the Senate prefers a two-bill approach. Last week, Republicans in the upper chamber put their plan into action by passing a budget resolution focused on military, border, and energy spending. They plan to craft a second reconciliation bill later this year to cut taxes and other programs.
https://www.medicarerights.org/medicare-watch/2025/02/27/house-advances-harmful-budget-plan