A recent meeting House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) held with the House Republican Conference on President Donald Trump's major legislation broke down amid bickering between groups of lawmakers.
That's according to a Wednesday article in CNN, which reported that negotiations quickly spiraled out of control when Republicans argued over funding for Medicaid. While the far-right House Freedom Caucus insists on cutting the health insurance program that helps provide care for millions of low-income and disabled people, more moderate House Republicans and those from swing districts want to spare the popular program from steep cuts.
Moderate Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) said that the House of Representatives "cannot be its own worst enemy" if it aims to pass legislation given its slim seven-member majority. And Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.), who represents a swing district in Long Island, is warning his fellow Republicans that the cuts they're clamoring for could have real-world consequences that may cost them in next year's midterm elections.
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"I don’t want to be mean,” Garbarino told CNN. “And I think any time it looks like we’re actually hurting people, that’s gonna p--- off the American population. And if you p--- them off, they’re probably not going to vote for you.”
However, Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), who is among the more hardline members of the House Republican Conference, argued that voters would punish them if they didn't enact significant cuts to the federal budget — including Medicaid — in the budget bill Johnson hopes to pass by the end of the month.
“My colleagues, who do not want to address that, are burying their head in the sand and already trying to worry about elections next year, when the best way to win elections is to actually deliver,” Roy told the network. "“I’ve got my own set of red lines I’m happy to start putting out there if they want me to.”
The tense meeting comes just after a group of moderate Republicans made it clear to Johnson that they wouldn't back any final bill that makes deep cuts to federal support for state Medicaid programs. But more conservative lawmakers like Rep. Rich McCormick (R-Ga.) promised to vote against the bill if it doesn't cut federal spending by at least $1.5 trillion — which would be effectively impossible to do without touching Medicaid — and would even do so if Trump himself wanted a bill without harsh spending cuts. Johnson can only afford three defections from his party in order to pass any bill through the House, assuming full attendance.
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Click here to read CNN's full report.