President Donald Trump on Friday pledged not to cut Medicaid, save for fraud and abuse — a vow that puts him at odds with Republicans in Congress who hope to use changes to the program to help finance a massive legislative package to enact the president’s domestic agenda.
Asked about broader spending cuts in the Oval Office on Friday afternoon while signing executive orders, Trump said we’ll “love and cherish” Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, the last of which insures more than 70 million Americans.
“We’re not going to do anything with that, unless we can find some abuse or waste,” Trump said. “The people won’t be affected. It will only be more effective and better.”
Republicans are considering slashing hundreds of billions of dollars from Medicaid, the safety-net health insurance program, to help finance an extension of Trump-era tax cuts and beefed-up border enforcement through the budget reconciliation process, which allows the majority to pass legislation along party lines without having to contend with the Senate filibuster.
Democrats would make the case that the changes to Medicaid currently under consideration by congressional Republicans go beyond just fraud and abuse measures. Some GOP proposals have targeted capping federal Medicaid payments to states based on population size, which Republicans argue would make the program more efficient and sustainable. Other ideas within the party include making work requirements a condition of eligibility.
On the campaign trail, Trump was largely silent about the future of Medicaid despite vows to protect Social Security and Medicare.
The Trump administration also came under fire this week for implementing a freeze on grants and federal aid that exempted Medicare and Social Security but didn’t mention Medicaid. Congressional Democrats blamed the order for leading to an outage of Medicaid payment portals, for which the Trump administration denied being responsible.
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