Republican Warns Own Party Medicaid Cuts Are 'Politically Suicidal'
By Suzanne Blake
ARepublican lawmaker is warning the GOP about what the party's proposed Medicaid cuts would do long term.
Missouri Senator Josh Hawley called the cuts to Medicaid "politically suicidal" as many Republicans' voter bases may be threatened by them.
Why It Matters
House Republicans have proposed legislation with $880 billion in cuts, largely to Medicaid, in order to approve $4.5 trillion in tax breaks.
While the budget doesn't explicitly cut Medicaid or Medicare, recent analysis found the financial target would be difficult to achieve without impacting the two government-run health care programs.
Nationwide, nearly 70 million Americans rely on Medicare and about 80 million are on Medicaid. The budget proposals would reduce the number of people with health care by 8.6 million over a decade, according to a preliminary estimate from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the Associated Press reported.
Josh Hawley
U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) speaks during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing with Sarah Wynn-Williams, former Director of Global Public Policy at Facebook, in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on April 09,... More Win McNamee/Getty Images
What To Know
House Republicans instructed the Energy and Commerce Committee to decide which programs and areas would be cut in the new bill, but Medicaid and Medicare are allotted a considerable portion of the committee's funding.
In all, the committee would have to reduce $880 billion in spending over the next decade.
Hawley said Republicans are having an "identity crisis" and the debate over Medicaid cuts reflects the ongoing problem.
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"Mr. Trump has promised working-class tax cuts and protection for working-class social insurance, such as Medicaid," Hawley wrote in an op-ed for The New York Times. "But now a noisy contingent of corporatist Republicans—call it the party's Wall Street wing—is urging Congress to ignore all that and get back to the old-time religion: corporate giveaways, preferences for capital and deep cuts to social insurance.
"This wing of the party wants Republicans to build our big, beautiful bill around slashing health insurance for the working poor. But that argument is both morally wrong and politically suicidal."
In Missouri, voters opted to expand Medicaid access along with 39 other states, and 21 percent of Missourians benefit from Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program, Hawley said.
"In 2020, the same year Mr. Trump carried the Missouri popular vote by a decisive margin, voters mandated that the state expand Medicaid coverage to working-class individuals unable to afford health care elsewhere. Voters went so far as to inscribe that expansion in our state constitution," Hawley said.
"If Congress cuts funding for Medicaid benefits, Missouri workers and their children will lose their health care. And hospitals will close. It's that simple. And that pattern will replicate in states across the country."
What People Are Saying
President Donald Trump, on Truth Social: "This week the Republicans are meeting in the Tax, Energy, and Agriculture Committees on major pieces of 'THE ONE, BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL.'... The Bill is GREAT. We have no alternative, WE MUST WIN! But now, with the tremendous Drug and Pharmaceutical Cuts, plus massive incoming Tariff Money, our "GREAT, BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL" just got much BIGGER and BETTER. The Golden Age of America will soon be upon us."
Drew Powers, the founder of Illinois-based Powers Financial Group, told Newsweek: "I am relieved to see that Republican lawmakers are starting to speak out against Medicaid cuts. As Hawley states in his letter, nearly 1 in 5 of all Americans are direct beneficiaries of Medicaid, and half of Americans have a personal or family connection to Medicaid. That's a lot of voters, and more importantly, these statistics represent the most vulnerable of our citizens: the elderly, the disabled, children in low-income families and the poor. It's also worth noting, Josh Hawley is not known to be a moderate Republican, so I could see most other Republicans pushing against Medicaid cuts as time goes on."
Louise Norris, health policy analyst for healthinsurance.org, told Newsweek: "Senator Hawley is imploring his party to avoid cuts to Medicaid, noting that it's a crucial source of health coverage in Missouri and throughout the nation....The impact of reduced federal funding for Medicaid will depend on what's eventually in a final bill, assuming there's enough Congressional agreement for that. Some proposed measures would only affect the Medicaid expansion population of low-income adults, while others could apply more broadly. But regardless of how it's done, reducing federal funding for Medicaid will result in people losing coverage, benefits being reduced, or both."
Kevin Thompson, the CEO of 9i Capital Group and the host of the 9innings podcast, told Newsweek: "Hawley's comments are a sign that the 'big, beautiful bill' does not have the backing necessary to pass during the first go-round. As you can see through many of the town halls, people are not happy, and these representatives are feeling the backlash from their constituents. This is actually a breath of fresh air as we are starting to see representatives actually 'represent' their constituents."
Alex Beene, a financial literacy instructor for the University of Tennessee at Martin, told Newsweek: "Senator Hawley makes several valid points, with the greatest one being this is a moment where the Republican Party has to come to terms with the identity they want to embody. They can either side with a program that provides health care coverage to over 70 million Americans, many of which work already, or back tax cuts that favor wealthier Americans. So many of the voting gains Republicans made have been to promoting legislative changes that benefit the middle and working classes. Failure to follow through on those promises and even cut coverage could result in massive voting losses in 2026."
What Happens Next
Negotiations on the spending bill and subsequently larger Medicaid cuts are expected to continue through the summer.
Since Republicans control both chambers of Congress, with fairly thin margins, the issue of whether and how much to cut federal Medicaid funding is likely going to be a significant part of the budget debate.
"Republicans may be cutting off their nose to spite their face," Thompson said. "As Hawley stated, a large contingent of his constituents need the program in regard to expansion, and based on the cuts to expansion, more than a few people will lose coverage. As this process gets closer and others realize how these cuts impact their states, a larger discourse will ensue, forcing the hands of some of the Republican base possibly stonewalling this bill near term."
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