After Darrell Issa voted for the largest cut to Medi-Cal in history, Desmond said “I’m hoping to follow in his footsteps.”
This week marks one year since House Republicans voted for the Big, Ugly Bill, a disastrous tax scam that enacted the largest cut to Medicaid and food assistance in American history to fund massive tax breaks for billionaires.
MAGA Jim Desmond has supported the Republican health care crisis every step of the way. After Darrell Issa voted for the Big, Ugly Bill, Desmond said “I’m hoping to follow in his footsteps.”
And when given the chance to provide relief locally, Desmond voted against using county reserve funds to prevent service cuts and against a plan to respond to federal cuts to Medi-Cal and CalFresh. He even called families’ very real concerns “politically-generated mania and hysteria” and said “the sky is not falling.”
The DCCC made clear that the Tax Scam would be the defining issue of the CA-48 race – and that fact remains the same one year later. Here is why:
- More than 1.7 million Californians have lost health coverage, with over 32,000 at risk in CA-48. Marketplace enrollment has fallen by 4.2 million people nationally, while an estimated 3.8 million Americans have lost Medicaid or CHIP coverage since the law took effect.
- The Desmond-backed bill cut nearly $44 million in estimated Medi-Cal revenue from CA-48 hospitals.
- 83 hospitals are at risk of closing in California, including 3 in San Diego County.
- The Big, Ugly Bill threatened food assistance for over 25,000 households in CA-48. Enrollment has fallen by 5.5% in California, with more than 300,000 fewer people in the state receiving nutrition assistance.
- Health care costs are soaring. Californians have been forced to pay 11.9% more for their monthly premiums in 2026 or abandon their plans altogether. California also saw a 3% decrease in enrollment since last year when the ACA tax credits expired.
- The Big, Ugly Bill remains deeply unpopular. Recent Navigator polling shows the law underwater by 11 points in battleground districts and 18 points nationally, underscoring the political liability Desmond will face.
DCCC Spokesperson Anna Elsasser:
“MAGA Jim Desmond has proven he will continue to dismiss the pain families are feeling as ‘hysteria’ and would be another reliable vote for the Republican health care crisis. As a result of Republicans’ shameful actions, hospitals are closing, children are losing food, and health care is being stripped away from tens of thousands of California families. GOP extremists like Desmond are going to lose in November, and their unabashed cruelty is the reason why.”
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