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Vulnerable House Republicans, particularly those on the Energy & Commerce and Agriculture Committees, are on the verge of advancing key components of their Tax Scam that will enact the largest cuts to Medicaid and food access in American history, which will cost them their seats next year.
New reporting from the New York Times explains “many vulnerable lawmakers fear that they are setting themselves up to take a tough vote on something that may never become law.”
Just yesterday, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office confirmed that proposed Republican cuts to Medicaid would kick people off their health care, resulting in an increase in the number of uninsured Americans by millions.
DCCC Spokesperson Justin Chermol:
“Markup day next week might as well be judgement day for the phony moderates in swing-districts who sit on these key committees.”
Read more from the New York Times below.
New York Times: Proposed Medicaid Cuts Put Vulnerable Republicans in a Political Bind
By Annie Karni | May 8, 2025
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Representative Gabe Evans, Republican of Colorado, secured his ticket to Washington in November when he defeated a Democratic member of Congress by less than 1 percentage point — just 2,449 votes.
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Now Mr. Evans, 39, is helping to write legislation that could cement his own ticket back home.
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The first-term congressman, whose swing district just north of Denver includes 151,749 Medicaid recipients, sits on the Energy and Commerce Committee. The Republican budget resolution that lays the groundwork for sweeping legislation to enact President Trump’s domestic agenda instructs the panel, which has jurisdiction over Medicaid, to slash spending by $880 billion over the next decade to help pay for a large tax cut. That number is impossible to reach without substantially reducing the cost of Medicaid, the government program that provides health insurance for lower-income Americans.
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As Republicans in Congress struggle to coalesce around the core pieces of what Mr. Trump calls his “one big, beautiful bill,” Mr. Evans and other G.O.P. lawmakers from some of the most competitive districts in the country are facing committee votes next week to approve cuts to popular programs that could come back to haunt them politically.
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And Democrats are gleeful at the prospect of Republican incumbents going on the record supporting the effort.
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“These members of Congress won with fewer votes than the number of people in their district on Medicaid,” said Jesse Ferguson, a veteran Democratic strategist and a former spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “Voting for this is like being the captain of the Titanic and deciding to intentionally hit the iceberg.”
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The group includes Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Republican of Iowa, who also sits on the Energy and Commerce Committee and is on even shakier ground than Mr. Evans, despite having warded off a challenger multiple times. Last year, Ms. Miller-Meeks, who represents 132,148 Medicaid recipients, won her seat by 0.2 percent, or 799 votes. Her local office in Davenport has been besieged by demonstrators concerned about spending cuts.
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Also on the panel is Representative Thomas H. Kean Jr., a Republican from a highly competitive district in New Jersey.
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On the Agriculture Committee, which must find $230 billion in cuts over a decade, Republicans are feuding over how much to slash from federal food assistance programs, with those from competitive seats wary of reductions that could hit their constituents. That panel also includes some of the most endangered Republicans in the House: Representatives Rob Bresnahan Jr., a first-term Republican from Pennsylvania; Don Bacon of Nebraska; Zach Nunn of Iowa; and Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin.
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Both committees are expected to meet next week to work on and finalize their bills, although that could change if Republicans fail to reach agreement on what cuts should be included. The panels had been slated to meet this week, but pushed off the meetings amid lingering disagreements.
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As the G.O.P. struggles to cobble together legislation that can please its right flank, which is demanding deep cuts, without alienating moderates who oppose them, many vulnerable lawmakers fear that they are setting themselves up to take a tough vote on something that may never become law.
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And the Congressional Budget Office on Wednesday wrote that after estimating the budget impact of four different options for cutting Medicaid, all of them would have the same overall result: “enrollment would decrease and the number of people without health insurance would increase.”
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