Republicans split on spending cuts, Medicaid as they seek path forward on Trump tax cuts [View all]
Source: Reuters
March 16, 2025 6:34 AM EDT Updated 2 hours ago
WASHINGTON, March 16 (Reuters) - Congressional Republicans, under pressure to move forward on President Donald Trump's tax cut and border security agenda, are at odds over how much spending they can cut from the federal budget without leaving constituents who rely on social safety net programs out in the cold.
Senate Republicans have been locked in closed-door debates about whether to overhaul the Medicaid health insurance program for low-income Americans to help pay for extending Trump's $4.6 trillion in 2017 tax cuts and other tax proposals, the mass deportation of unauthorized immigrants and a boost in military spending. A main question for Republican senators is whether they can meet or exceed the $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion in spending cuts over the next decade laid out in the budget blueprint for the Trump agenda that squeaked through the Republican-controlled House of Representatives last month.
"We have a lot of people who would like to go a lot farther, some who would like not to go that far," Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota told reporters. Hardline House Republicans say they are ready to block any Senate budget blueprint that does not safeguard their spending cuts. Hanging in the balance is the future of Medicaid, a politically risky source of savings for Republicans that benefits more than 35 million Americans in states Trump won in the 2024 election, a Reuters analysis of Medicaid data shows.
The program, funded jointly by federal and state governments, covers one in five Americans. It cost the federal government $618 billion last year, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, making it the third largest line item after the Medicare program for older Americans and the Social Security retirement program. Some Republicans think adequate spending cuts can be achieved only by overhauling Medicaid, vowing to improve the program rather than cut benefits. Others would rather see social safety net programs preserved - especially at a time of a growing recession risk.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/republicans-split-spending-cuts-medicaid-they-seek-path-forward-trump-tax-cuts-2025-03-16/
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