Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker on Sunday challenged House Speaker Mike Johnson’s vow to protect Medicaid in the GOP’s mission to reduce the budget deficit, arguing that Republicans cannot make their proposed cuts without striking benefits.
“Medicaid is where most of us think they will go after because Republicans have been attacking Medicaid for years and years,” Pritzker said during an appearance on “Fox News Sunday.” “Where will you find $880 billion? That’s the big question and the rest of us can see through it.”
In the GOP campaign to enact President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” House Republicans approved a budget framework last week that tasks the House Energy and Commerce Committee with finding $880 billion in budget cuts over 10 years. Democrats argue that the only pathway for Republicans to make the cuts is through gutting funding for benefit programs, like Medicaid.
Before the vote, Johnson said that Republicans could trim the budget deficit by at least $1.5 trillion while safeguarding Medicaid. But it remains unclear how Republicans plan to meet the $880 billion goal without affecting benefits.
“The reality is that underneath that framework they don’t want to mention what they are going after,” Pritzker said. “$880 billion they have to find. There are only three places to find that much money all at once: Medicaid, Medicare or Social Security.”
While some Republicans have expressed concern about the budget’s potential impact on Medicaid, far-right conservatives assert that the benefits program is awash in fraud and waste. Recent polling also found that Trump voters don’t approve cuts to Medicaid.
“It will really hurt working families across the United States,” Pritzker said of possible Medicaid cuts.