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'Healthcare Cuts Will Kill' Rally Protests Deadly Trump-GOP War on Medicaid
Republican lawmakers are "going to war against low-income and middle-class people" to fund another round of tax cuts for the mega-rich, said Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Jun 11, 2025
Advocates, vulnerable Americans, and progressive members of Congress rallied outside the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday to denounce and continue building public opposition to congressional Republicans' proposed cuts to Medicaid and other key healthcare programs, which would have devastating consequences nationwide.
The "Healthcare Cuts Will Kill" rally featured remarks from a home health aide who warned that the unparalleled Medicaid cuts included in the GOP legislation would endanger the wellbeing of seniors who rely on the program's coverage to survive.
"They need home attendants for support with daily living," said Miriam, a member of Make the Road NY, in her remarks at the rally. "Stripping them and mothers like me of Medicaid would be devastating."
Advocates who attended the demonstration later made their way into the U.S. Capitol Building, where they planned to hold office visits with lawmakers to discuss their grave concerns about the GOP attacks on healthcare.
The actions came as Republicans continued work on a sprawling reconciliation bill that would cut Medicaid by more than $700 billion over the next decade, kick nearly 11 million people off their healthcare, and potentially cause more than 51,000 excess deaths per year.
The legislation would also trigger over $500 billion in automatic cuts to Medicare, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
In a letter to their Senate colleagues earlier this week, a faction of far-right House Republicans argued that the GOP legislation needs to "go much further on spending reductions," including cuts to Medicaid.
"If Trump's 'Big, Beautiful Betrayal' wasn't devastating enough to Americans' bottom line, the House Freedom Caucus is calling on their Senate colleagues to go further, risking even more Americans' healthcare," Tony Carrk, executive director of Accountable.US, said in response to the letter. "Point blank: Americans shouldn’t lose their healthcare to pay for billionaire tax cuts."
Speaking at Wednesday's rally, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Republican lawmakers are "going to war against low-income and middle-class people" to fund another round of debt-exploding tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy.
"We are the only country not to guarantee healthcare to all, the healthcare system is broken, they want to make it even worse," said the Vermont senator.
Analilia Mejia, co-director of Popular Democracy in Action, one of the groups that organized the rally, said that "it's easy for many Americans to imagine that they are not going to be impacted by this large, unscrupulous, unconscionable transfer of wealth, by this ridiculous notion that, because we all die, some of us, depending on our bank account, will die earlier without care or concern."
"Every single one of us are going to be impacted because we will be in a society where the 'haves' have many and have much, and the 'have-nots' are denied food, healthcare, and education," said Mejia. "And that's a society none of us want to live in."
"Senate Republicans are charging forward with attacks on our healthcare, ripping coverage away from millions of Americans and raising costs for millions more."
Ahead of the rally, Sanders and 10 Democratic senators demanded that the Republican chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee schedule hearings on the GOP reconciliation bill's proposed healthcare cuts, warning that they would "create a national healthcare emergency" if enacted.
"Not only would millions of Americans lose their health insurance and tens of thousands of our constituents die as a result of the House-passed reconciliation bill, the cost of prescription drugs would go up for seniors, hospitals and community health centers in rural and underserved areas would close or shut down access to services that patients rely on, and nursing homes would be made less safe," the senators wrote.
"Failure to hold hearings and a markup on this reconciliation bill before it is considered on the Senate floor," they added, "would be an abdication of our duty to the American people."
Anthony Wright of Families USA, which helped organize the Capitol Hill demonstrations, said in a statement Wednesday that new legislative text released by Senate Republicans "doubles down on the disastrous bill passed by House Republicans."
"The text out today would raise health insurance premiums for 10 million people by as much as $1,400 a year," said Wright. "As we await additional bill text from the Senate, these provisions serve as a glaring red flag that Senate Republicans are charging forward with attacks on our healthcare, ripping coverage away from millions of Americans and raising costs for millions more."
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Imperiling Lives Worldwide, White House Asks Congress to Claw Back Global Health Funding
"These cuts would condemn countless vulnerable women, children, and families to preventable suffering and death," warned one humanitarian aid alliance.
Jun 04, 2025
The Trump White House on Tuesday formally asked Congress to rescind over $9 billion in approved spending, taking aim at lifesaving foreign aid programs as well as funding for U.S. public broadcasting outlets targeted by the president.
The $9.4 billion rescission request, expected to be the first of several, is laid out in a memo authored by Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought, who wrote that the clawback "would eliminate programs that are antithetical to American interests, such as funding the World Health Organization, LGBTQI+ activities, 'equity' programs, radical Green New Deal-type policies, and color revolutions in hostile places around the world."
The White House request specifically urges Congress to rescind hundreds of millions of dollars from U.S. contributions to United Nations peacekeeping; $500 million from U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) global health programs that fund "activities related to child and maternal health, HIV/AIDS, and infectious diseases"; $800 million from Migration and Refugee Assistance; and $125 million from the Clean Technology Fund.
The request would also eliminate U.S. contributions to the U.N. Children's Fund.
If enacted, the rescissions would compound the damage already done by the Trump administration's lawless assault on USAID, an attack that has had devastating impacts around the world.
Abby Maxman, president and CEO of Oxfam America, said Tuesday that "this attempt to claw back billions of dollars of federal funding already approved by Congress, including lifesaving foreign aid, is yet another deadly setback for communities now left without food, clean water, healthcare, and more."
"The global aid system is already overstretched as need continues to rise," said Maxman. "We are already seeing the life and death impacts of foreign assistance cuts—championed by a handful of the world’s richest people—on women, children, and communities already enduring poverty, hunger, conflict, and disaster."
"We call on Congress to vote 'no' on this reckless rescissions package and uphold longstanding bipartisan commitment to these programs that save untold lives and make the world a better place for us all," Maxman added.
The humanitarian alliance InterAction warned that "these cuts would condemn countless vulnerable women, children, and families to preventable suffering and death—and already have."
"The closing of clinics in South Sudan caused at least five children with cholera to die while trying to access treatment," the alliance said. "In the Democratic Republic of Congo, entire communities were cut off from water, food, and healthcare. Stories like these continue to emerge from across the globe."
"Trump's cuts will save no more than a rounding error, but cost America its credibility, and hundreds of thousands of people their very lives."
The White House package also demands that Congress rescind all $535 million appropriated for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which would cement President Donald Trump's broadside against NPR and PBS. Both outlets are suing the president over his attempt to cut off their federal funding.
U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said the new request "is just the beginning," warning that "next time, it might be funding for cancer research or to help working families afford their energy bills this summer."
"After linking arms with Elon Musk to take a chainsaw to key programs the American people count on, President Trump is now asking Republicans in Congress to rubberstamp his DOGE cuts and codify them into law," said Murray. "In asking Congress to rescind some of the funding he has been illegally blocking for months, Trump is conceding what we've known all along: that Congress—not the president—must approve the rescission or withholding of investments that were signed into law."
Because the rescission process is not subject to the 60-vote Senate filibuster, congressional Republicans can approve the White House's demands without any Democratic support. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) pledged to "bring the package to the floor as quickly as possible."
Peter Maybarduk, Access to Medicines director at Public Citizen, said in a statement Tuesday that the White House proposal marks "a low moment for our country."
"This president, having unconstitutionally obliterated foreign aid, is now asking members of Congress to bless the power he illegally took from them and the destruction he has wrought with it," said Maybarduk. "Trump's cuts will save no more than a rounding error, but cost America its credibility, and hundreds of thousands of people their very lives."
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140+ Groups Oppose House GOP's Sweeping Ban on State AI Regulation
"Americans deserve both meaningful federal protections and the ability of their states to lead in advancing safety, fairness, and accountability when AI systems cause harm."
May 19, 2025
Demand Progress on Monday led over 140 organizations "committed to protecting civil rights, promoting consumer protections, and fostering responsible innovation" in a letter opposing U.S. House Republicans' inclusion of legislation that would ban state and local laws regulating artificial intelligence in a megabill advanced by the Budget Committee late Sunday.
Section 43201(c)—added by U.S. Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) ahead of last Tuesday's markup session—says that "no state or political subdivision thereof may enforce any law or regulation regulating artificial intelligence models, artificial intelligence systems, or automated decision systems during the 10-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this act."
"Protections for civil rights and children's privacy, transparency in consumer-facing chatbots to prevent fraud, and other safeguards would be invalidated, even those that are uncontroversial."
In the new letter, the coalition highlighted how "sweeping" the GOP measure is, writing to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), and members of Congress that "as AI systems increasingly shape critical aspects of Americans' lives—including hiring, housing, healthcare, policing, and financial services—states have taken important steps to protect their residents from the risks posed by unregulated or inadequately governed AI technologies."
"As we have learned during other periods of rapid technological advancement, like the industrial revolution and the creation of the automobile, protecting people from being harmed by new technologies, including by holding companies accountable when they cause harm, ultimately spurs innovation and adoption of new technologies," the coalition continued. "In other words, we will only reap the benefits of AI if people have a reason to trust it."
According to the letter:
This total immunity provision blocks enforcement of all state and local legislation governing AI systems, AI models, or automated decision systems for a full decade, despite those states moving those protections through their legislative processes, which include input from stakeholders, hearings, and multistakeholder deliberations. This moratorium would mean that even if a company deliberately designs an algorithm that causes foreseeable harm—regardless of how intentional or egregious the misconduct or how devastating the consequences—the company making that bad tech would be unaccountable to lawmakers and the public. In many cases, it would make it virtually impossible to achieve a level of transparency into the AI system necessary for state regulators to even enforce laws of general applicability, such as tort or antidiscrimination law.
"Many state laws are designed to prevent harms like algorithmic discrimination and to ensure recourse when automated systems harm individuals," the letter notes. "For example, there are many documented cases of AI having highly sexualized conversations with minors and even encouraging minors to commit harm to themselves and others; AI programs making healthcare decisions that have led to adverse and biased outcomes; and AI enabling thousands of women and girls to be victimized by nonconsensual deepfakes."
If Section 43201(c) passes the Republican-controlled Congress and is signed into law by President Donald Trump, "protections for civil rights and children's privacy, transparency in consumer-facing chatbots to prevent fraud, and other safeguards would be invalidated, even those that are uncontroversial," the letter warns. "The resulting unfettered abuses of AI or automated decision systems could run the gamut from pocketbook harms to working families like decisions on rental prices, to serious violations of ordinary Americans' civil rights, and even to large-scale threats like aiding in cyber attacks on critical infrastructure or the production of biological weapons."
The coalition also called out "Congress' inability to enact comprehensive legislation enshrining AI protections leaves millions of Americans more vulnerable to existing threats," and commended states for "filling the need for substantive policy debate over how to safely advance development of this technology."
In the absence of congressional action, former President Joe Biden also took some steps to protect people from the dangers of AI. However, as CNNpointed out Monday, "shortly after taking office this year, Trump revoked a sweeping Biden-era executive order designed to provide at least some safeguards around artificial intelligence. He also said he would rescind Biden-era restrictions on the export of critical U.S. AI chips earlier this month."
Today, Demand Progress and a coalition of artists, teachers, tech workers and more asked House leaders to reject a measure that would stop states from regulating AI. Read the full story by @claresduffy.bsky.social at @cnn.com
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— Demand Progress (@demandprogress.bsky.social) May 19, 2025 at 10:15 AM
The groups asserted that "no person, no matter their politics, wants to live in a world where AI makes life-or-death decisions without accountability... Section 43201(c) is not the only provision in this package that is of concern to our organizations, and there are some provisions on which we will undoubtedly disagree with each other. However, when it comes to this provision, we are united."
"Americans deserve both meaningful federal protections and the ability of their states to lead in advancing safety, fairness, and accountability when AI systems cause harm," concluded the coalition, which includes 350.org, the American Federation of Teachers, Center for Democracy & Technology, Economic Policy Institute, Free Press Action, Friends of the Earth U.S., Greenpeace USA, Groundwork Collaborative, National Nurses United, Public Citizen, Service Employees International Union, and more.
In a Monday statement announcing the letter, Demand Progress corporate power director Emily Peterson-Cassin blasted the provision as "a dangerous giveaway to Big Tech CEOs who have bet everything on a society where unfinished, unaccountable AI is prematurely forced into every aspect of our lives."
"Speaker Johnson and Leader Jeffries must listen to the American people and not just Big Tech campaign donations," she said. "State laws preventing AI from encouraging children to harm themselves, making uninformed decisions about who gets healthcare, and creating nonconsensual deepfakes will all be wiped away unless Congress reverses course."
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