To Avoid a Shutdown, Congress Must Reverse Trump's Cuts to Medicaid

Restoring healthcare to millions of Americans is an essential condition to keeping the government open past the September deadline

Photo by Stephen Andrews on Unsplash (Unsplash license)

Once again, Republicans depend on Democratic votes to avoid a costly shutdown. This time, however, if they want to keep the government open, they will need to do something they dread the most: reach across the aisle in good faith.

Congressional Democrats have issued an ultimatum: if Donald Trump and Mike Johnson do not agree to reverse their cruel and destructive cuts to Medicaid, they will not have the votes to keep the government open past September 30.

Passed in July, Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill Act” — perhaps better known as the Big, Ugly Bill — forces all Medicaid recipients to submit to burdensome work and reporting requirements, even though most beneficiaries already work in full-time or part-time positions.

Even for those who qualify under Trump’s terms, the newly added bureaucratic red tape will force people off the program.

In no uncertain terms, millions of low-income Americans — from every state — will lose access to routine checkups, home healthcare services, and be denied from receiving life-saving prescription medications. Those who require emergency care risk taking on medical debt that will haunt them for the rest of their lives.

Even worse, hospitals and clinics scattered across the country face an immediate risk of closure, as the anticipated loss of insured patients will directly affect their economic sustainability.

Indeed, Donald Trump’s cuts to Medicaid will affect us all, even those on private or employer-sponsored plans. For those living in rural areas, the closure of local infrastructure will be especially pronounced, as the shutdowns will force patients to travel vast distances to facilities that could be hundreds of miles away.

Healthcare providers, meanwhile, are already raising their rates to account for these revenue losses, making affordable healthcare even more difficult to access.

Paired with expiring ACA subsidies, the GOP’s Big, Ugly Bill is deliberately manufacturing a national crisis that will be felt after the 2026 midterms, if not earlier.

Donald Trump’s sadistic healthcare policy is a direct attack on the health, safety, and dignity of every American — that is why Democrats in Congress are demanding that Republicans reverse course and overturn their deadly cuts to Medicaid.

“No one who is following what Republicans have done to rip away healthcare [from] the American people can reasonably suggest that responsible legislators should do anything other than push back aggressively to protect the health care of the American people,” Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters, signaling that his party is not going to back down without a fight.

Republicans believe they have enough votes to overcome Jeffries’s challenge in the House, but they need to convince at least seven Democrats in the Senate for their budget to reach the 60 votes needed to overcome the filibuster.

Based on the words of Democratic senators, that will be a tall order without making concessions on healthcare.

“Republicans may have votes to pass a resolution in the House, but not the Senate,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer warned. “If Donald Trump says no negotiations at all, then it's Donald Trump's shutdown.”

Accordingly, Senator Elizabeth Warren spelled out the urgency of restoring Medicaid.

“Before working moms go broke from a cancer diagnosis, Congress must act. Before community hospitals are forced to shut down, Congress must act. Before your neighbor with a home health aide loses his care, Congress must act,” she stressed.

“That is why Democrats are saying, ‘If Republicans want our votes, they need to restore healthcare for Americans.’”

Every State Democrats agrees — to protect Americans’ access to affordable healthcare, Republicans must reverse their cruel and destructive cuts to Medicaid.

If Donald Trump and MAGA Mike Johnson want Democrats’ help to keep the government open, then they need to come to the negotiating table.

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