As Donald Trump and Republicans seek to find funds for an illegal, unpopular war that has spiraled out of their control, they are once again eyeing health care funding as a possible target for spending cuts.
last week, politics House Budget Chair Judy Arrington (R-Texas) has raised the possibility of adding additional defense spending to the upcoming reconciliation bill, and preventing the increase by cutting “government and social programs,” reported House Budget Director Judy Arrington (R-Texas). The Pentagon is asking Congress for $200 billion for the ongoing US-Israeli war against Iran.
Axios confirmed the report on Monday. “There are other things that we’re looking at right now, especially in the areas of fraud and waste and abuse that we’re working with our members,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) told the publication, calling for the kind of language Republicans have used in the past to justify their attacks on health care funding.
The so-called Big Beauty bill that Republicans passed last year cut more than $1 trillion from Medicaid and health care spending, and is expected to cost millions more than their health insurance. Trump and the GOP claimed that the law’s cuts to Medicaid and other social security programs were in the service of getting rid of “fraud” from government spending. In reality, most adults who receive Medicaid are already working, fraud is rare, and most Medicaid fraud that occurs is committed by providers, not individuals who end up being dropped from their plans. Republicans in Congress last year also allowed increased health care subsidies for health care plans purchased through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to end and cause millions more to lose health care.
Republicans once again plan to target funding for ACA plans. According to an assessment by the Congressional Budget Office last year, when a similar move to target cost-sharing reductions was considered but ultimately left the table, the proposed cuts would result in the loss of health care coverage for an additional 300,000 Americans, and increased out-of-pocket costs for some ACA plan holders. That’s on top of the 14 million Americans already expected to lose coverage by 2030 as a result of the big handsome bill.
Rep. Arrington’s office did not immediately respond to a request or comment Rolling Stone.
Despite intense Republican pressure to boost the Defense Department’s demand, additional funding for an armed conflict with Iran is not universally popular among the GOP.
“I’m not for war, and therefore I’m not for funding war,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) told MS NOW. Rep. Lauren Bobert (R-Colo.) has said publicly that she is voting “no” on any additional aid for the Iran war. Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) said he would need to see the administration articulate clear goals for the dispute before allowing a “blank check.” Rep. Thomas Massey (R-Ky.) echoed similar concerns. “It begs the question, how long do they plan to be there? What are the goals? Is it the first $200 billion? Does it turn into trillions?” He said in an interview with CNN.
A war against Iran is widely unpopular, with 60 percent of the country’s population disapproving of war. This number is expected to increase due to the economic consequences of the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz on domestic and international markets. There is also the possibility that Trump will openly deploy American troops for a ground attack on Iran, and the possibility of increasing their numbers is unlikely. But Republicans, unable to publicly bow to the demands of the administration they swore to, are once again preparing to punish their constituents for its follies.
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