First, House Republicans hid from the public by skipping town halls, refusing to talk to or outright arresting concerned constituents, and moving crucial hearings into the early-morning hours to keep as few eyes on their machinations as possible. Then, they voted to support Trump’s health care-killing bill and waited for the Senate to take their turn.
Now, after days of weekend and late-night debate to reach Trump’s arbitrary July 4 deadline, and after even more paltry lip service to their constituents, who poll after poll show do not support cutting health care to pay for billionaires’ tax cuts, House Republicans voted today in favor of the Senate’s much-hated, even-worse budget bill. The bill would:
-
Kick even more Americans — 17 million — off their health insurance;
-
Devastate rural hospitals;
-
Slash food assistance for millions of low-income kids and families;
-
Raise energy costs for millions of Americans; and
-
Destroy job-creating industries and slash nearly six million jobs from the workforce.
Throughout the months of public opposition to the Republicans’ enormous, dangerous bill, Republicans have lied to the American public and have said they would not support cuts to Medicaid in order to pay for the ultra-rich’s tax breaks — and American Bridge has the receipts. For even more audio + video examples of Republicans lying about not cutting health care access, please email [email protected].
Tom Barrett (MI-07); 131,300 constituents on Michigan’s Medicaid: “I want to be very clear that this resolution does not cut Medicaid. It does not cut Social Security. It does not cut Medicare. Again, it does not cut Medicaid, Social Security, or Medicare.” LISTEN HERE.
Andy Biggs (AZ-05); 102,600 constituents on Arizona’s AHCCCS: “There’s some amazingly bad stuff in here… Elon Musk is right, it’s bad. But President Trump is right, it’s good.” LISTEN HERE.
Rob Bresnahan (PA-08); 203,200 constituents on Pennsylvania’s Medicaid/Medical Assistance: “But, you know, the people of northeastern Pennsylvania are my number one priority. And I’ve said it time and time again, if it’s going to gut any benefits for the people in our district that depend on them, I absolutely will not support that. And, you know, just a fact here, more than 27% of our constituents in northeastern Pennsylvania rely on Medicaid. It’s 27.1%. Additionally, any attempt to gut Medicaid would only exasperate the difficult access to care many of our constituents already experience.” LISTEN HERE.
And more recently, railing against the reductions to the provider tax rates he just voted for: “There was proposals to reduce FMAP, there was proposals to reduce the provider tax and we would not support it. And President Trump and Speaker Johnson have both said we won’t cut Medicaid. And I agree with them. If a final reconciliation package guts Medicaid, we will not be voting for it.” LISTEN HERE.
Juan Ciscomani (AZ-06); 131,900 constituents on Arizona’s AHCCCS: “And one thing they will hear from the people that are lying about this is that we’re cutting Medicaid and we’re cutting Medicare, Social Security. Those are all absolute lies. And we need to continue to fight back on that, not be silent and assume that people are going to know that they’re lying.” LISTEN HERE.
More recently, he spoke in opposition to the Medicaid-killing changes to provider tax rates that the Senate made in their bill; claiming he would oppose them: “However, there are other things that the Senate is playing with, provider tax rate caps specifically that would cost Arizona billions. Rural hospitals would suffer. Many would close. So we have to, you know, continue to fight against that part of it that goes too far on that. There are other ways that we can do that saving without playing with that.” LISTEN HERE.
Gabe Evans (CO-08); 163,000 constituents (many of them already angry at being ignored by Evans) on Health First Colorado: “And we’re asking 4.8 million people. Like we said, this is their choice. This number could be zero. But the official estimate is 4.8 million able bodied working age adults with no dependents are going to choose their choice. They’re going to choose not to work, volunteer or go to school part time, part time being defined as 80 hours a month. I don’t know about you, Sheriff, but, you know, every job I’ve ever had, I’ve had to work to get my health care.” LISTEN HERE.
John James (MI-10); 182,900 constituents on Michigan’s Medicaid: “Absolutely not. We have to save Medicaid. We gotta make sure that our kids are taken care of. Absolutely must save Medicaid.” WATCH HERE.
Tom Kean (NJ-07); 70,200 constituents on NJ Family Care: “As our work on government spending continues, I want to continue being very clear. I support protecting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid for those who rely on it, these programs across our country.” LISTEN HERE.
Jen Kiggans (VA-02); 104,200 constituents on Virginia’s Cardinal Care: “I want to take just a moment to reassure everyone who is listening that Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare and the services that these federal agencies provide will not be touched, the health care piece.” LISTEN HERE.
Mike Lawler (NY-17); 189,400 constituents on New York’s Medicaid: “I’ve been very clear in this and that I will not support any proposal that cuts benefits or reduces services for Medicare or Medicaid. These programs are lifelines for millions of Americans, and we must strengthen them, not chip away at them. And so as we work through this negotiation, as part of reconciliation, I will fight to make sure these vital programs are protected.” WATCH HERE.
Dan Meuser (PA-09); 161,900 constituents on Pennsylvania’s Medicaid/ Medical Assistance: “If they are receiving Medicaid and they are not eligible, there’s a very good chance — and they should — lose their coverage. For instance, if you’re here illegally — and I don’t mean a green card — you aren’t supposed to be on the Medicaid rolls.” READ HERE.
Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-01); 146,000 constituents on Iowa Health Link, many of whom have been protesting her office: “Well, I would say that, you know, certainly I understand people’s concern, especially with all the lies and the myths that the Democrat Party has spewed about what we have done in Medicaid and what we have done and passed in the House. Even The New York Times said that they were exaggerating the number of people that may be affected by this. We have looked at waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicaid program. We are strengthening and preserving Medicaid for those who it is intended.” WATCH HERE.
Zach Nunn (IA-03); 169,000 constituents on Iowa Health Link, many of whom are already upset at Nunn skipping town halls: “Well, let’s be very clear. I have always been fully committed to Social Security and Medicare. And going forward, that’s not going to change. The same is true for Medicaid. I am fully committed and I’m leading legislation to make sure that whatever cuts take place in Washington, that Medicaid recipients don’t bear the brunt of that.” WATCH HERE.
Miller-Meeks and Nunn also signed a letter that stated: “Protecting Medicaid is essential for the vulnerable constituents we were elected to represent. Therefore, we cannot support a final bill that threatens access to coverage or jeopardizes the stability of our hospitals and providers.”
Mike Turner (OH-10); 177,600 constituents on Ohio Medicaid: “So I think, you know, if, if there’s a calculus in this bill that the people are going to choose not to work, that they, they lose health care benefits, and I think that’s, that’s their own choice that you’re going to be seeing.” WATCH HERE.
Derrick Van Orden (WI-03); 140,100 constituents on Wisconsin’s Badger Care: “Last Congress, there was a group of people on the left saying that Republicans were going to cut Medicaid, said we were going to cut Medicare, said we’re going to cut Social Security. They said we’re going to cut SNAP. They said we’re going to cut WIC. They said we’re going to cut veterans benefits. And none of that came true. And the same people that lied to you about Republicans cutting Medicaid, Medicare, SNAP, WIC, veterans benefits, they are the same people that are telling you the same lies now.” WATCH HERE.
Published: Jul 3, 2025