'Not gonna vote for Medicaid cuts': GOP infighting embroils budget process

House leader Mike Johnson has learned Medicaid is still a political third rail Republicans can’t easily touch to fund President Donald Trump’s tax cuts, but that doesn’t stop them from wanting to try.

NOTUS reports House Republicans made few big decisions while assembling a budget bill without Democratic input. They failed to raise state and local tax deductions to please blue-state Republicans. They made no decisions on cutting food benefits and they’ve reached no agreement on how much to increase the percentage they want to require states to pay into Medicaid to cover federal Medicaid reductions.

Budget cuts also are still a contentious issue, with the House budget calling for $1.5 trillion in spending cuts while the Senate budget calls for about $4 billion. Some deficit hawks, including Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis) has demanded at least $5 trillion in cuts before they will sign on to a bill extending Trump’s tax cuts.

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Inter-party fighting over Trump’s cuts were less of a headache in 2017 because Republicans were able to ignore warnings from critics that the 2017 cuts would fail to pay for themselves with economic growth and would instead be a budget buster.

Now, eight years later, the truth of the tax cuts is clear after they added between $1 trillion and $2 trillion in debt by conservative estimates. Other critics warn that extending the cuts would add an additional $37 trillion by 2054.

While conservative House members tell NOTUS the bill must cut significant spending, vulnerable Republicans in blue states and battleground districts in California and New York fear voters will notice drastic Medicaid and budget cuts but derive little benefit from reduced or maintained taxes. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) are telling reporters that Medicaid cuts are off the table if the House or Senate want any hope of passing a budget bill among Republicans.

Even Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), a MAGA favorite known for pumping his fist in solidarity with pro-Trump Jan. 6 protestors, stands against touching Medicaid. NOTUS, adds that one in nine adults in Hawley’s state is on Medicaid.

READ MORE: 'Bizarro': Josh Hawley sets off shockwaves after launching Medicaid grenade at House GOP

“I’m not gonna vote for Medicaid cuts,” Hawley said, and told NOTUS that he’s not getting assurances from the House that they won’t try to cut it.

Even if House leaders do manage to pass a bill by deadline NOTUS suspects there will be enough disagreement between House and Senate Republicans over cuts and Medicaid that the bill will have to go to conference.

Read the full NOTUS story here.