Trump and Republicans Double Down On Gutting Critical Programs to Fund Tax Handouts For Billionaires Arrow

In response to House Republicans passing their disastrous budget resolution, DNC Chair Ken Martin released the following statement:

"At Donald Trump's command, House Republicans just voted to give the greenlight to ripping away affordable health care from millions of Americans, forcing working families and children to go hungry, and devastating local economies to the tune of tens of billions of dollars - all to pay for another round of tax handouts for Trump's billionaire backers. The American people deserve a leader who places their needs above lining the pockets of the ultra-wealthy. The MAGA agenda couldn't be clearer: billionaires first, working families last."

NEW: At Donald Trump's request, House Republicans advanced their disastrous funding agenda to gut critical programs like Medicaid while making permanent Trump's tax handouts for his billionaire backers.

Libbey Dean, NewsNation: "Budget blueprint PASSES House 216-214"

Trump: "It is IMPERATIVE that Republicans in the House pass the Tax Cut Bill, NOW! Our Country Will Boom!!!"

NBC News: "Senate Republicans released a new budget blueprint Wednesday that would pave the way for … making President Donald Trump's 2017 tax cuts permanent."

KFF: "Congress is currently targeting up to $880 billion or more in federal Medicaid spending reductions. The House passed a budget resolution instructing the House Energy & Commerce Committee (E&C) to reduce the federal deficit by at least $880 billion over 10 years. Although the budget resolution does not mention Medicaid, Medicaid comprises $8.2 trillion out of the $8.6 trillion in mandatory spending that E&C must use to come up with spending reductions (assuming Medicare cuts are off the table). As a result, major cuts to Medicaid are the only way to meet the House's budget resolution required $880 billion (or more) in spending reductions."

Republicans are falling in line with Trump's plan to gut Medicaid and put health care on the chopping block for 79 million Americans - a move that will devastate seniors, children, and rural folks.

In his FY18, FY19, FY20, and FY21 budgets, Trump repeatedly proposed hundreds of billions in cuts to Medicaid.

KFF Health News: "Republicans in Washington say they plan to use funding cuts and regulatory changes to dramatically shrink Medicaid, the nearly $900-billion-a-year government health insurance program that, along with the related Children's Health Insurance Program, serves about 79 million mostly low-income or disabled Americans. …

"Advocates for poor people fear GOP funding cuts will leave more Americans without insurance, making it harder for them to get care. …

"If the GOP's plans to shrink Medicaid are realized, Democrats and health experts say, low-income people forced to buy private insurance would face challenges paying monthly premiums and the large copayments and deductibles common to commercial plans that typically don't exist in Medicaid."

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: "President Trump has made clear that his goal remains to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), including its expansion of Medicaid to low-income adults, and to impose rigid caps on the federal government's Medicaid spending."

ProPublica: "The Trump Administration Cracked Down on Medicaid. Kids Lost Insurance."

New York Times: "Medicaid Cuts May Force Retirees Out of Nursing Homes"

Georgetown University Center for Children and Families: "Cuts to Medicaid Will Shift Costs to Families, Providers and Will Be Especially Harmful to Rural Communities"

Republicans are also slashing SNAP - which benefits 40 million Americans - and forcing working families and children to go hungry.

Center for Budget Policies and Priorities: "Millions of Low-Income Households Would Lose Food Aid Under Proposed House Republican SNAP Cuts"

"The [House] budget resolution … directs the House Agriculture Committee to cut programs in its jurisdiction by at least $230 billion through 2034, with these cuts expected to come largely or entirely from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and to be used to help pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest business owners and households. …

"Regardless of how Republican lawmakers enact a cut of this magnitude, this would slash more than 20 percent from a program that helps more than 40 million people, including 1 in 5 children, afford groceries."

Republicans' disastrous plan could also slash up to 1 million jobs nationwide and cost tens of billions of dollars, devastating local economies across the country.

Milken Institute of Public Health: "NEW REPORT: Federal Medicaid and SNAP Cuts Could Result in One Million Jobs Lost and State GDPs Falling by More than $110 Billion in 2026"

"[P]otential budget cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program could trigger severe economic consequences across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. If implemented, these combined cuts could lead to one million jobs lost, a $113 billion decline in states' gross domestic products, and $8.8 billion in lost state and local tax revenue in 2026 alone."

Axios: "States could lose thousands of jobs - including 10,900 jobs in Arkansas - and billions of dollars in economic output under potential Medicaid and food aid cuts, a new estimate finds."

The Beacon: "The cuts could lead to nearly 30,000 jobs lost across Missouri and Kansas health care systems and food suppliers, a new study found."

Kera News, NPR: "Medicaid, SNAP cuts could cost 68,000 Texas jobs, report finds"

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