SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
U.S. President Donald Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), and House Republican Conference Chair Lisa McClain (R-Mich.) talk with reporters on May 20, 2025.
(Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)
Trump Tells Republicans: 'Don't Fuck Around With Medicaid.' He Should Read Their Bill
"With a floor vote on the horizon, will House Republicans fuck around with Medicaid to give tax breaks to their billionaire buddies?" asked one progressive campaigner. "Or will they finally listen?"
May 20, 2025
U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly used a closed-door meeting with House Republicans Tuesday to instruct them not to "fuck around with Medicaid" as the party rushes ahead with legislation that proposes the largest Medicaid cuts in American history.
Trump's remarks indicate he's either unaware of the specifics of the "big, beautiful bill" that he has championed or doesn't mind the unprecedented Medicaid cuts that are currently in the text—but doesn't want them to go any further.
Republican hardliners are actively pushing to cut the key healthcare program even more aggressively, including by moving up the start date for work requirements and slashing federal payments to states that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.
"Don't fuck around with Medicaid," Trump said during the private meeting with House Republicans, Politico reported, citing two unnamed GOP lawmakers.
"Working people have been speaking out and urging their members of Congress not to 'fuck around with Medicaid' for months now."
In its current form, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates, the House GOP reconciliation bill would slash Medicaid by more than $600 billion over the next decade and remove at least 10 million people from the program—likely with deadly consequences. (KFF, a health policy research group, provides a detailed summary of the bill's Medicaid provisions here.)
The legislation also includes nearly $4 trillion in tax cuts that would disproportionately benefit the wealthiest Americans.
Kobie Christian, a spokesperson for the Unrig Our Economy coalition, said in response to Trump's private comments that "working people have been speaking out and urging their members of Congress not to 'fuck around with Medicaid' for months now."
"With a floor vote on the horizon, will House Republicans fuck around with Medicaid to give tax breaks to their billionaire buddies?" Or will they finally listen?" Christian asked. "All eyes are on them this week."
Trump's meeting with House Republicans came hours before the chamber's GOP-controlled rules panel is set to convene for a dead-of-night hearing on the reconciliation package.
The 1 am ET meeting was scheduled shortly after Republicans on the House Budget Committee cut a deal to deepen the legislation's cuts to Medicaid and other programs.
According to a new CBO analysis, the House Republican measure would cut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by more than a third by 2034.
"This would rip food assistance away from millions of people, including households with children as young as 7 years old," said Bobby Kogan, senior director of federal budget policy at the Center for American Progress.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly used a closed-door meeting with House Republicans Tuesday to instruct them not to "fuck around with Medicaid" as the party rushes ahead with legislation that proposes the largest Medicaid cuts in American history.
Trump's remarks indicate he's either unaware of the specifics of the "big, beautiful bill" that he has championed or doesn't mind the unprecedented Medicaid cuts that are currently in the text—but doesn't want them to go any further.
Republican hardliners are actively pushing to cut the key healthcare program even more aggressively, including by moving up the start date for work requirements and slashing federal payments to states that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.
"Don't fuck around with Medicaid," Trump said during the private meeting with House Republicans, Politico reported, citing two unnamed GOP lawmakers.
"Working people have been speaking out and urging their members of Congress not to 'fuck around with Medicaid' for months now."
In its current form, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates, the House GOP reconciliation bill would slash Medicaid by more than $600 billion over the next decade and remove at least 10 million people from the program—likely with deadly consequences. (KFF, a health policy research group, provides a detailed summary of the bill's Medicaid provisions here.)
The legislation also includes nearly $4 trillion in tax cuts that would disproportionately benefit the wealthiest Americans.
Kobie Christian, a spokesperson for the Unrig Our Economy coalition, said in response to Trump's private comments that "working people have been speaking out and urging their members of Congress not to 'fuck around with Medicaid' for months now."
"With a floor vote on the horizon, will House Republicans fuck around with Medicaid to give tax breaks to their billionaire buddies?" Or will they finally listen?" Christian asked. "All eyes are on them this week."
Trump's meeting with House Republicans came hours before the chamber's GOP-controlled rules panel is set to convene for a dead-of-night hearing on the reconciliation package.
The 1 am ET meeting was scheduled shortly after Republicans on the House Budget Committee cut a deal to deepen the legislation's cuts to Medicaid and other programs.
According to a new CBO analysis, the House Republican measure would cut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by more than a third by 2034.
"This would rip food assistance away from millions of people, including households with children as young as 7 years old," said Bobby Kogan, senior director of federal budget policy at the Center for American Progress.
U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly used a closed-door meeting with House Republicans Tuesday to instruct them not to "fuck around with Medicaid" as the party rushes ahead with legislation that proposes the largest Medicaid cuts in American history.
Trump's remarks indicate he's either unaware of the specifics of the "big, beautiful bill" that he has championed or doesn't mind the unprecedented Medicaid cuts that are currently in the text—but doesn't want them to go any further.
Republican hardliners are actively pushing to cut the key healthcare program even more aggressively, including by moving up the start date for work requirements and slashing federal payments to states that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.
"Don't fuck around with Medicaid," Trump said during the private meeting with House Republicans, Politico reported, citing two unnamed GOP lawmakers.
"Working people have been speaking out and urging their members of Congress not to 'fuck around with Medicaid' for months now."
In its current form, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates, the House GOP reconciliation bill would slash Medicaid by more than $600 billion over the next decade and remove at least 10 million people from the program—likely with deadly consequences. (KFF, a health policy research group, provides a detailed summary of the bill's Medicaid provisions here.)
The legislation also includes nearly $4 trillion in tax cuts that would disproportionately benefit the wealthiest Americans.
Kobie Christian, a spokesperson for the Unrig Our Economy coalition, said in response to Trump's private comments that "working people have been speaking out and urging their members of Congress not to 'fuck around with Medicaid' for months now."
"With a floor vote on the horizon, will House Republicans fuck around with Medicaid to give tax breaks to their billionaire buddies?" Or will they finally listen?" Christian asked. "All eyes are on them this week."
Trump's meeting with House Republicans came hours before the chamber's GOP-controlled rules panel is set to convene for a dead-of-night hearing on the reconciliation package.
The 1 am ET meeting was scheduled shortly after Republicans on the House Budget Committee cut a deal to deepen the legislation's cuts to Medicaid and other programs.
According to a new CBO analysis, the House Republican measure would cut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by more than a third by 2034.
"This would rip food assistance away from millions of people, including households with children as young as 7 years old," said Bobby Kogan, senior director of federal budget policy at the Center for American Progress.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.