U.S. Reps. Jared Golden and Chellie Pingree blasted a Republican budget bill that cleared the House of Representatives by a single vote early Thursday, saying the measure would cut Medicaid and other programs to give tax cuts to wealthy Americans.
House Republicans pushed through their budget proposal after a series of last-minute amendments. The bill is more than 1,000 pages long and would cut $800 billion in Medicaid, cut taxes, increase spending on border security and roll back Biden-era clean-energy tax credits. The original version would have added $4 trillion dollars to the national debt. It was not clear what effect the last-minute amendments had on the overall cost.
The House launched debate before midnight and, after a series of concessions, finally voted around dawn. The measure passed by a single vote, 215-214, after President Donald Trump pressured wavering moderates and reluctant conservatives to fall in line. All but a few Republicans supported the bill, while Democrats, including Golden and Pingree, were unified in opposition.
It now goes to the Senate, where Republicans, including Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, have expressed concern about the health care cuts and are expected to make significant changes to the version passed by the House. The budget bill is expected to be reviewed and changed by committees of jurisdiction rather than the Senate Appropriations Committee, which Collins chairs.
The Senate hopes to wrap up its version by the Fourth of July holiday, The Associated Press reported.
A spokesperson for Collins said Thursday that the senator was reviewing House budget bill after the amendments leading up to the vote.
Collins has said that she wants to protect health care access for the 400,000 Mainers who rely on Medicaid, known as MaineCare, and funding for hospitals. But she does support “sensible work requirements.”
“I cannot support proposals that would create more duress for our hospitals and providers that are already teetering on the edge of insolvency,” Collins said in a written statement Thursday. “I also support sensible work requirements for able-bodied men and women who are capable of working and do not have obligations that preclude them from participating in the workforce.”
Central to the package is the GOP’s commitment to adding to the $4.5 trillion in tax breaks adopted during Trump’s first term, while temporarily adding new ones, including no taxes on tips, overtime pay, car loan interest and others.
To make up for some of the lost tax revenue, the Republicans focused on changes to Medicaid and the food stamps program, largely by imposing work requirements on many of those receiving benefits. There’s also a massive rollback of green energy tax breaks from the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act.
Additionally, the package tacks on $350 billion in new spending, with about $150 billion going to the Pentagon, including for the president’s new “ Golden Dome” defense shield, and the rest for Trump’s mass deportation and border security agenda.
Pingree, D-1st District, called the budget “reckless,” saying the bill would add $4 trillion to the national debt, strip health benefits from 50,000 Mainers and erode safety net programs like food stamps, all to pay for tax breaks that will largely benefit the wealthiest 10% of Americans.
“With the narrow passage of this reckless bill, Republicans have brazenly chosen to sacrifice the health and economic security of working Americans to give massive handouts to billionaires and corporate interests,” Pingree said in a written statement. “This legislation represents the ultimate betrayal of hardworking families across our nation.”
Golden, D-2nd District, also criticized the budget bill in a written statement, adding that his “no” vote was the easiest one he’s ever taken. He said 236,000 people in his district — or more than a third of his constituents — rely on Medicaid, or MaineCare as the program is known here, and the elimination of enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits would increase costs by an average of $180 a month for many Mainers.
Golden said the bill uses those savings to partially pay for $5 trillion in new tax cuts, primarily for the wealthy.
“The House GOP had every opportunity to work across the aisle to write a budget that puts middle-class families first. Instead, they’re ramming through an extreme agenda that takes health care away from the working poor and borrows trillions of dollars to fund a package of tax cuts tilted in favor of those at the top,” Golden said. “Mainers want more health care, not less. They want a tax code where everyone pays their fair share. And they want Congress to get its fiscal house in order. This bill fails on each of those fronts.”
Golden said a late amendment to the bill would prevent insurance plans sold on the Affordable Care Act marketplace from covering abortion care.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office on Tuesday said the original budget bill would have shifted federal benefits away from the lowest tenth percentile of income earners and toward the top tenth percentile of earners. It would have added $3.8 trillion to the national deficit, while cutting $698 million from Medicaid and $267 million from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the office said.
All told, the office estimated 8.6 million fewer people would have health care coverage and 3 million fewer people a month would have SNAP food stamps benefits with the proposed changes.
This report contains material from The Associated Press.
We invite you to add your comments. We encourage a thoughtful exchange of ideas and information on this website. By joining the conversation, you are agreeing to our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is found on our FAQs. You can modify your screen name here.
Comments are managed by our staff during regular business hours Monday through Friday as well as limited hours on Saturday and Sunday. Comments held for moderation outside of those hours may take longer to approve.
Join the Conversation
Please sign into your CentralMaine.com account to participate in conversations below. If you do not have an account, you can register or subscribe. Questions? Please see our FAQs.