House Democrats held a press briefing on Tuesday on the Republican budget proposal.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Good afternoon, everyone. It's an honor and a privilege today to be joined by House Democratic
00:17Whip Catherine Clark, Frank Pallone, the once and future chairman of the Energy and Commerce
00:24Committee, who of course is the leading champion in the House Democratic Caucus in the Congress
00:31for the health care of the American people. Certainly Angie Craig, the top Democrat on the
00:39Ag Committee, who's doing a tremendous job. And of course, Brendan Boyle, the future chair of the
00:45Budget Committee, who has been our point person on budget reconciliation. House Republicans are
00:52determined to jam a reckless and extreme budget down the throats of the American people that
01:01will enact the largest cut to Medicaid and the largest cut to SNAP in American history. Children,
01:12families, women, veterans, older Americans, people with disabilities, and everyday Americans
01:20will be hurt. These proposed cuts to Medicaid and SNAP are unacceptable, unconscionable, and
01:30un-American. Several so-called swing seat and moderate Republicans have indicated that they are opposed
01:39to these devastating proposed to these devastating proposed cuts to SNAP and Medicaid. House Democrats
01:46earlier today, led by Brendan Boyle in terms of the discharge petition, and Frank Pallone and Angie Craig
01:56as it relates to the underlying legislation, hands off Medicaid and SNAP, have given Republicans an
02:05opportunity to actually not simply talk about defending the best interests of the American people, but be
02:14about it. Discharge petition is now live on the House floor. All we need are four Republicans to do the
02:25right thing, stand up for Medicaid and stand up for SNAP so they can stand up for the American people,
02:32and we can stop the devastating cuts that Republicans are proposing to the health care of the American
02:41people and cuts that would literally take food out of the mouths of children and families. Hands off Medicaid
02:53Medicaid and SNAP. I thank Frank Pallone, Angie Craig and Brendan Boyle for their leadership on this effort. All we need
03:06are four House Republicans to join Democrats in protecting the health care and nutritional assistance of the American
03:20people. Catherine Clark. Thank you, Mr. Leader. Thank you for all that you are doing on behalf of the American
03:30people. And let's just look at where we are. In just over 100 days, the president has already spiked the cost of
03:40groceries. Thanks to his tariffs, we have empty ports. And we're weeks away from those empty ports turning into
03:49empty shelves and even higher prices, making it harder to put food on the table, making it harder to see a
03:58doctor, making it harder to afford housing, all to fund tax breaks for the wealthiest few. It seems like the
04:07Republicans these days have two settings, one waste time or two actively make things worse. This week, they're
04:16renaming the Gulf of Mexico to fill time while they finalize how to kick moms and kids and seniors off of
04:26health care, how to take food and school lunches away from the people of this country and our children. All of this
04:36poses a question for those House Republicans who like to call themselves moderate. Here's a chance for you, your
04:46friends, your fellow moderates to show you actually care for your constituents. It only takes a handful of
04:55Republicans to stop this. Just a few to protect Medicaid and save working families from losing their
05:04healthcare and going hungry. Try asking them in the halls today. Let's see if they're ready to vote for the
05:13people they represent. And it is my pleasure to yield to ranking member Brendan Boyle. And we are so grateful
05:22for all the work and bringing this discharge petition for it. Thank you. Well, thank you to to Catherine,
05:31the next majority leader of the United States House of Representatives and thank future Speaker Jeffries, as
05:37well as my my colleagues, Frank Pallone and Angie Craig, with whom I partnered a few weeks ago to introduce
05:45the legislation, hands off Medicaid and SNAP. Today, I filed discharge petition that right now is live in
05:54the House. Well, 10 a.m. was proud to to be the first signer. And as Catherine and Hakeem both mentioned,
06:01all we need, we don't need 100 percent of House Republicans. We don't need a majority of them. We need two percent.
06:08Two percent of House Republicans. And by the way, there have been far more than two percent on TV who have been
06:14saying, oh, no, I would never cut Medicaid. I would never cut SNAP. Not me. OK, prove it right now in the House.
06:22Well, you can go down there, take about 15 seconds, sign your name and we can have an immediate vote
06:29to protect Medicaid and to protect SNAP, because if that doesn't happen, Republicans have already voted
06:36in the House. Every single one of them, but one voted for the largest cut to Medicaid in American
06:42history. And on top of that, the largest cut to SNAP in American history. And why to help subsidize tax
06:50cuts for the top one percent? It is wrong. It is moral. It is immoral. And it is bad economics.
06:57So to those Republicans who and especially living in Philadelphia, every election time,
07:03I see a lot of TV ads. It is amazing how moderate suddenly some Republicans become at election time,
07:10every two years and every four years. Well, here is an opportunity to actually prove it
07:15not at election time to make a real difference. Just four House Republicans can make the critical
07:22difference to ensure that Medicaid and SNAP are entirely protected. I'll close with this. This is
07:30not some abstract Washington, D.C. issue. Forty four percent of my constituents in working class
07:38neighborhoods of Philadelphia that I'm proud to be from and represent. Forty four percent are on Medicaid.
07:45My neighbors will have their lives deeply impacted in a negative way if these Medicaid cuts go through.
07:55We are doing everything we can to prevent them. And with that, I am now proud to introduce almost a
08:02neighbor from New Jersey, the past and future chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Frank Pallone.
08:11Thank you, Brendan. And thanks to all our leadership and energy and all of us involved here today.
08:17I'm going to take a cue from you. You said that you just need one or two from the Philadelphia area.
08:24On the other side of the river, I have three. And we could just use those three and maybe one more from Philadelphia.
08:30Deal. And we'd be there with the four. And believe me, I'm trying to get them.
08:35I don't know how easy that's going to be. Look, I think it's clear to most of you that
08:40the Republicans are in disarray on our way over. They were meeting this morning trying to figure out
08:45what to do in the Energy and Commerce Committee. I saw one of them leave the room as we were on our way
08:50over here. And they're in disarray because many of them know that their constituents would be negatively
08:57impacted by these Medicaid cuts, whether it's nursing homes or it's people who just lose their
09:02health insurance or people with disabilities. All of these things they're very well aware of
09:09are going to have an incredibly negative impact on their constituents' health care. But they all voted
09:15for this reconciliation bill that, as far as the Energy and Commerce Committee is concerned, says that
09:21we have to cut $880 billion. And there's no way to reach that. The CBO has told us there's no way to
09:28reach that without most of it coming from Medicaid. And, you know, all three of my New Jersey guys have
09:37said at some point that they don't want to cut Medicaid. And so what we're saying is great. Here's the
09:43opportunity. You just go down there and you sign this discharge petition and it'll make sure that
09:50Medicaid and SNAP is not included in the reconciliation bill. But of course, they're
09:55probably not going to do that because they know that the reconciliation bill requires these cuts in
09:59order to achieve the tax cuts that they want to do for the very wealthy, for billionaires and for large
10:06corporate interests. And so they're in a dilemma. We're going to make their dilemma easier by saying,
10:12just sign this discharge petition and we'll be fine. Medicaid will be fine. SNAP will be fine.
10:18And it's kind of like, you know, throwing down the glove. Here's your opportunity. Take it. And then
10:24we will believe what you've been saying. So I'm just, you know, we're just going to keep this up
10:31until we get there because we do not want to see these Medicaid cuts or these SNAP cuts that are so,
10:36would be so devastating. And with that, I will yield now to the ranking member of the
10:42Agriculture Committee, who's going to talk about the SNAP cuts.
10:50Well, thank you so much. It's certainly an honor to be able to stand with my colleagues here today and
10:57an honor, Leader Jeffries, to be able to stand up for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in this
11:03country. You know, our Republican colleagues, as you all know, have indicated that they want to cut
11:11$230 billion from the SNAP program. Doing that would roll back. Just think about this for a minute.
11:19The SNAP program provides $6.20 on average to hungry Americans. That would roll that back to five bucks
11:28at a time when the nation's food costs are out of control. And the president and this administration
11:35promised that this would be their number one priority. This hasn't even risen to any priority
11:42within this administration. Now, the Ag Committee, my majority, and Chairman Thompson,
11:49they keep hoping and praying that the Senate will save them. Folks, the Senate's not going to save you.
11:56This committee is actually going to be asked, I believe, next week to cut more than $230 billion,
12:03because now they want to roll essentially part of the farm bill into reconciliation,
12:10which means they're going to have to cut even more from SNAP in order to achieve this. So let me be
12:16clear about all of this. Many of the ideas coming out of Republicans on this committee,
12:22just a 10% cost share, if they choose to move in that direction, is a $400 million a year hit
12:32to the state of Pennsylvania. It is $4.27 billion over the next 10 years. So my colleagues, they truly
12:40have a choice here. They've said that they don't want to cut SNAP benefits. And truly, I believe that
12:47Chairman Thompson does not want to. But I also believe that Chairman Thompson is going to be
12:54rolled by Republican leadership, is going to be rolled by the White House. If this administration
13:02truly cares about family farmers, let me tell you this, cutting SNAP by $230 billion is a direct cut
13:11of $30 billion to farm income in our country. And that doesn't even include the money that goes into
13:19SNAP for the truck drivers who drive the food to the stores, the retailers, and especially in rural
13:27communities across our country who sell that food. And of course, the hungry Americans and Minnesotans
13:35who rely on that, which are principally 70% veterans, seniors, and children in our country. And by the way,
13:44SNAP already has work requirements. So do not allow my Republican colleagues to try to characterize
13:51this as anything but taking food out of the mouths of hungry children in our country. I have four
13:58Republicans in Minnesota, four Republican congressmen and women. Last week, I decided that I would go around
14:06the state of Minnesota and I would do town halls in each of their Republican districts. And I can tell
14:12you cuts to Medicaid and cuts to SNAP were two of the most concerning issues that their constituents
14:19raised to me because they won't show up and do their own town hall. So I say to you,
14:26I'm not looking for four Republicans in this country. I'm looking for four patriots in this country,
14:33four Republicans. That's all we have to find. And folks, if we can't find four patriots left in our
14:40nation to put their money where their mouth is and sign on to this discharge petition, then that is a truly
14:48sad day in America and a truly sad day for the Republican Party. Thank you. And I'll turn it
14:54back over to Leader Jeffries for comments. Thank you, Angie. Thank you, Frank, Brendan, and Catherine.
15:01Questions? Thank you, Leader Jeffries. Republican Congressman Nunn, Van Orden, and Bacon have signed
15:07on to a point of order that aims to kind of accomplish similar to what you all are discussing here. Will you
15:12support that and should members of your caucus support both? Those three members need to support
15:17the discharge petition that has been filed because it's ripe. The point of order that those three
15:25Republicans filed won't ripen until at least 30 legislative days. It's not a serious effort.
15:33If the Republican Speaker says he's aiming to get this done by Memorial Day,
15:39the only serious effort to actually stop Medicaid and SNAP cuts from going into effect
15:47is the discharge petition that is live now on the House floor supporting the legislation that has
15:55been advanced by Frank Pallone, Angie Craig, and Brendan Boyle. Thanks.
16:01I can just quickly follow up and then I have a question. Have you all or will you all be reaching
16:05out to those three Republicans given that they are similarly having the same line of thought?
16:11We've been in conversation with Republicans throughout this entire process because
16:16more than a dozen Republicans, if not more, have repeatedly and publicly said they will not support
16:23a budget reconciliation that actually cuts benefits for Medicaid and SNAP. However, it's time for them to
16:32actually put their money where their mouth has been legislatively and support a bill that can
16:41actually prevent Medicaid and SNAP benefits from taking place. The 1974 Budget Impoundment and Control Act
16:54explicitly prohibited Congress from touching Social Security in the budget reconciliation process.
17:04This legislation would add to that prohibition Medicaid and SNAP. It's very simple, it's clean,
17:14and it's straightforward. And if just a handful of Republicans actually join this legislation,
17:22then we can stop the largest cut to Medicaid in American history from taking place and the largest
17:29cut to SNAP in American history from taking place.
17:32If I may, past Republican leadership has done a good job of trying to block any discharge petitions
17:38that you all have put on the floor because they've tucked it into rules. Republicans have voted to
17:44block you all from going forward on past paths. It's possible they could do it again here. How are you all
17:51thinking about keeping Republicans on notice through other measures or mechanisms if they do end up trying
17:58to block this distraction? Well, you know, listen, it's an all hands on deck effort to make sure we
18:03protect the health care of the American people, as well as prevent Republicans from literally snatching
18:10food from the mouths of hungry children, veterans and seniors. Now, Republican leadership continues to claim
18:21that they have no intention of enacting devastating cuts to Medicaid and SNAP. And so it's not clear to us
18:28why they would block an actual legislative effort to make sure that what they are saying actually takes place.
18:37Catherine. Thank you. Just to answer this question, this is yet another CYA move
18:46by the House Republicans. And frankly, the American people are tired of it. You are seeing it in town halls.
18:54We're seeing it across this country. People do not want them to take away their basic needs, health care, food,
19:05school lunch programs, feeding our seniors, meals on wheels in order to fund tax cuts. And what we see
19:13repeated is so-called moderates writing letters to the speaker saying, this is not good for my district.
19:21It's not good for the country, for people. But then turning around and voting for it twice anyhow. And so this
19:30latest resolution just falls right into the same, you know, inauthentic action. If you actually want to
19:38take and protect health care in this country and you actually think that this is terrible for working
19:46families out there to take away their health care and food programs in order to have tax cuts for the
19:55very wealthiest, then vote on it. Vote on it. Don't file something that becomes right, you know, 30
20:02legislative days from now. Let's do it this week. And let's get back to a process and talking about
20:09taxes that makes sense and is centered around families at home.
20:18Thank you. The speaker has indicated that the GAO believes there's about $50 billion in fraud and abuse in Medicaid.
20:26What number, if you're looking at fraud and abuse, do Democrats think is okay to cut?
20:32First of all, there's nothing close to $880 billion.
20:35They argue that over the 10-year window, that would not have added to $550-some-odd billion.
20:39Yeah, they're lying to the American people. But let me defer to Frank Pallone.
20:45We did a report in the Energy and Commerce Committee that was based on these
20:51red tape requirements in Georgia and Arkansas, two states that experimented with it. And what we found
20:57was that overwhelmingly, hundreds of thousands of people, I think it was 80, 90 percent of the people
21:04that would normally be eligible for Medicaid, lost their benefits because of the red tape
21:10requirements. And no one, or practically no one got a job, right? Because the people are already
21:16employed who were able to be employed. So this is not a question of numbers, right? I mean,
21:23they're going to, they can make up whatever numbers they want and say, you know, it's going to
21:26be 50 million, billion or 100 billion. Well, I understand that. But what I'm trying to say is
21:34what my fear is, and I think maybe that's what you're getting at, is that they're just going to,
21:40you know, do these red tape requirements and say, oh, that'll hit up to $880 billion. It won't,
21:47it wouldn't be anywhere near there. But I think that what's happening now is they're in total disarray.
21:52They don't know what to do. They know they can't reach these numbers. And so they're probably going
21:58to say, oh, we'll have all this red tape and somehow that's going to reach the number. But it's not.
22:04And the only thing that it's going to do is to make sure that most people who are eligible for Medicaid
22:09don't get it and lose their health insurance. That's right. Yeah. Chad, just if I might,
22:15because this came up in our 12-hour Budget Committee markup. And after this, my staff
22:21will provide you with the details. GAO later did a revision of that GAO report, the initial report,
22:30and they revised that number significantly downward. They also said that this should not be,
22:35it's a little bit contradictory on their part, but they said this should not be interpreted
22:39as a definitive figure. But again, happy to provide those details because I know the Republican side
22:45kept quoting that $500 billion figure over 10 years, but even GAO is not standing by that.
22:51The question also has to be asked. Why are House Republicans jumping through hoops to try to cut
23:00Medicaid, the healthcare of the American people, and cut nutritional assistance? It's all in service
23:06of enacting massive tax breaks for their billionaire MAGA donors like Elon Musk.
23:12The simple approach here, mathematically, is just to eliminate the tax breaks that you are trying
23:18to enact as it relates to your extreme MAGA Republican donors. And then you don't have to consider
23:26cutting Medicaid, you don't have to consider cutting SNAP, you don't have to consider cutting
23:35educational or housing benefits that the American people have earned and have come to rely upon. This is
23:44all being done in service of rewarding their donors like Elon Musk. And it is unacceptable.
23:52And Republicans can't explain that rationally to the American people.
23:56And so as a result, they go to old, reliable waste, fraud, and abuse.
24:03Of course, Democrats are open. In every instance, try to make sure that the federal government is
24:11effective, efficient, and equitable. And to the extent that there's waste that can be found
24:16in any program, in any program, we're open to that in good faith. There is nothing close to $880 billion
24:26in waste, fraud, and abuse as it relates to Medicaid. There is nothing close to $230 billion
24:34as it relates to the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program. It's all phony.
24:39And it's all designed to try to justify massive tax breaks for the wealthy, well-off, and well-connected
24:46billionaire donors of the Republicans. And that's something that the American people have made clear they reject.
24:56Thank you. Many of the Republican lawmakers who have expressed skepticism or criticism about the
25:02current potential cuts to, you know, through the EMC committee, they have still, you know,
25:09admitted they're open to some sorts of cuts. Are there members that you think you can talk with to
25:15sign this who are open to no cuts? Like, is that a viable path, finding four people who are open to
25:24signing this? Because most have said they're open to some sort of cut. Yes, you have members, including
25:30one in New York, in the Westchester suburbs, who has said clearly and unequivocally he's not going to
25:37support any cuts to Medicaid benefits. Well, the easiest way to make sure that happens is to sign this
25:48discharge petition so that there's an up or down vote on the hands-off Medicaid and SNAP legislation,
25:56which takes an existing law, the 1974 Budget Impoundment and Control Act, with an existing
26:06provision related to Social Security, and simply extends that to Medicaid and SNAP.
26:15Can I just say something? You know, I guess I'm getting a little angry. We're talking about Medicaid cuts,
26:21right? And we're saying, I'm going to, you're no longer going to be eligible for your health
26:25insurance. What does that mean? Right? It means I don't have, I can't go see a doctor. I have to go
26:30to the emergency room if I get sick. And then what happens, right? That becomes uncompensated care.
26:37That person gets sicker. Ultimately, the federal government ends up paying more,
26:41and you have a sicker society. Let's let, we're, you know, we're talking about real people here and real
26:47lives. This is just, you know, they can play all the numbers they want, uh, and say, this is this,
26:52this is what this is up to. The bottom line is it's going to make this country sicker,
26:57and it's going to mean more cost to the federal government or the state or to, or to individual,
27:01to the other people that have health insurance. They're going to have to make up the difference
27:04for the uncompensated care. So these numbers game belies the reality of what happens when people lose
27:11their health insurance and their Medicaid. I just wanted to mention, since, um,
27:18rural development falls into the jurisdiction of the Ag Committee, um, folks are very concerned
27:24about the outsized impact in rural communities across our country to these Medicaid cuts because
27:30a higher proportion of folks who live in rural communities across our country, um, have Medicaid,
27:37uh, is their primary coverage. And so, uh, we are seeing, uh, inside our congressional office and
27:43inside the committee, a revolving door of, um, health care organizations coming through
27:49to tell us that there is going to be a drastic impact on rural hospitals. If in fact, these Medicaid
27:56cuts come through and it's going to cause not just cuts to Medicaid folks, but all health care costs
28:05are going to go up as Frank said, if Medicaid is cut by $880 billion. And in a scenario where we're
28:13literally talking about cutting food security for people and health care for, for people, how in the
28:22world is this going to make America healthy again? This is only going to make America sicker and it's only
28:30going to hit the pocketbooks of Americans even more. So all of my Republican colleagues who represent
28:38incredibly rural districts across our country because of the mass gerrymandering in our nation,
28:43I have been talking to them and telling them, uh, publicly and privately that you really do have
28:50no idea the long-term impact in your communities. So many jobs in these rural communities come from our
28:58local hospitals and health care systems. This is going to be a shockwave through rural communities
29:04if they move forward with these plans. Thank you. Last question. Yeah, I just want to follow
29:09up on that TAO report. The more recent version has about $31 billion, if I recall, and about 80% of that
29:14is essentially documentation paperwork errors. That still leaves like $6 billion a year.
29:20They could be abusive or fraud. Is that the kind of thing Democrats are willing to look at,
29:25or is the reconciliation process is like too partisan and you can't even go there? Well,
29:30the reconciliation process is hyper-partisan, uh, and it's all being done in service of enacting
29:36extreme right-wing policy proposals that they want to visit upon the American people in many instances
29:43doing great damage to the American people in rural America or the heartland of America, small town
29:50America, urban America and suburban and exurban America as well. We have made clear from the very
29:56beginning that we're interested in trying to find any bipartisan common ground to solve problems on
30:03behalf of the American people, including making the federal government the most efficient that it can
30:09be. We also want to bring about an affordable economy that actually makes life better for everyday Americans.
30:16Nothing in this reconciliation process is designed to actually solve problems for everyday Americans,
30:23improve the economy or lower costs. In fact, what we see from Donald Trump and Republicans
30:30is that they actually are crashing the economy in real time, raising costs through their reckless
30:35tariff scheme and driving us toward a recession. And on top of all the damage that they're doing
30:45relative to the economy, they want to jam this extreme budget down the throat to the American people
30:50that will take away health care and nutritional assistance, which is why we're just urging a handful
30:57of Republicans to join us on behalf of the American people so that Congress gets the message, hands off Medicaid and snap. Thank you.