House Republicans have come under sustained fire for their budget bill, which would deliver sweeping cuts to the social safety net—slashing hundreds of billions of dollars from Medicaid and Medicare. While many expected Senate Republicans to soften those reductions, the Senate’s version—released late Monday afternoon—goes even further, deepening the House’s Medicaid cuts and raising the debt ceiling by $5 trillion, rather than the $4 trillion proposed in the House bill.
Politico reports that the decision to squeeze Medicaid for even more money, to help pay for President Donald Trump’s tax cuts that largely benefit the wealthy, is “already setting off shockwaves through Capitol Hill,” and would be “a huge departure from the House-passed bill.”
The budget legislation, officially President Donald Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill,” also makes permanent his tax cuts from his first term, effectively representing a multi-trillion-dollar expense.
The Hill reports that the bill also includes Trump’s campaign promise of “no tax on tips.” That is a controversial proposition among critics who say it could open the floodgates for high-wage earners as it could exclude bonuses from taxation.
The GOP Senate’s version also includes provisions that would make it more difficult for Medicaid users to access benefits, by imposing stricter work and reporting requirements while reducing the amounts the federal government gives to the states for its share of Medicaid payments.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projected that the House’s version of the bill would increase the number of uninsured people by an additional 10.9 million people.
Polls have shown Americans oppose the House version by about a 2-1 margin, largely because of the hundreds of billions of dollars in cuts to Medicaid.
U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ) on Monday called portions of the Senate bill “mean-spirited,” and “political buffoonery,” according to CNN’s Sarah Ferris.
Michael Linden, a former executive associate director at the Biden White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) summed up the bill: “Huge cuts to health care so that rich people can get another tax cut.”