The math doesn’t seem to work with the House budget proposal, and the president’s record shows a consistent openness to Medicaid cuts.
President Trump’s big legislative ambition — extending his signature tax cuts — may have just crashed into his newly expressed wish to protect the Medicaid program.
Mr. Trump said Tuesday night on Fox News that he wouldn’t make cuts to Medicaid, the federal-state health insurance program that mostly covers poor Americans. But making substantial cuts to Medicaid is a key part of congressional Republicans’ plan to extend the tax cuts.
“Medicare, Medicaid — none of that stuff is going to be touched,” Mr. Trump said in an interview with Sean Hannity. “We won’t have to.”
Mike Johnson, the House Speaker, has been hard at work on a major bill that can balance various priorities of Mr. Trump and his caucus: a desire for $4.5 trillion in tax cuts, a wish to trim federal spending, and concerns about rising federal debts.
The budget Mr. Johnson negotiated, a first step in passing that agenda, calls for around $880 billion in cuts to Medicaid, in an effort to counterbalance a portion of the tax cuts.
The House bill requires $2 trillion in spending reductions to help offset tax cuts.
$2 trillion
The committee that oversees Medicare and Medicaid is responsible for at least $880 billion — 44% of those cuts.
$880 billion
$1.1 trillion
The House bill requires $2 trillion in spending reductions to help offset tax cuts.
$2 trillion
The committee that oversees Medicare and Medicaid is responsible for at least $880 billion — 44% of those cuts.
$880 billion
$1.1 trillion