A growing number of Senate Republicans are voicing concerns over a sweeping domestic policy bill narrowly passed by the House, setting the stage for a contentious battle over federal spending, Medicaid, and the national deficit.
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said Sunday he believes there are enough Republican senators willing to delay or block the measure in its current form. “We’ve got to stop the process,” Johnson said on CNN’s State of the Union, citing the bill’s projected $2.3 trillion addition to the federal deficit over the next decade, as estimated by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
Johnson called for a line-by-line review of the bill’s provisions, echoing calls from fiscal conservatives to prioritize deficit reduction.
Senate Republicans, including Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Josh Hawley of Missouri, have also raised objections to elements of the bill. Paul criticized the proposed spending cuts as “wimpy and anemic,” arguing they fail to curb the rising national debt. “The problem is the math doesn’t add up,” Paul said on Fox News. “They’re going to explode the debt.”
Hawley took issue with potential Medicaid reductions, warning that the current version could strip health coverage from approximately 8.6 million people, according to CBO projections. “I just want to make sure that there are no Medicaid benefit cuts,” Hawley told NBC News, adding that the Senate would likely draft its own version of the bill.
In a New York Times op-ed earlier this month, Hawley accused some Republicans of pushing for a bill that would “slash health insurance for the working poor,” a move he described as “morally wrong and politically suicidal.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., defended the bill in multiple Sunday interviews, stating that it targets fraud, waste and abuse within Medicaid rather than cutting benefits. “We are not cutting Medicaid,” he said on CBS News’ Face the Nation, adding that the legislation addresses “illegal aliens on Medicaid” and able-bodied adults who “are choosing not to work.”
When asked by CNN’s Jake Tapper whether constituents losing benefits would be due to fraud or improper enrollment, Speaker Johnson responded, “Yeah … every district in America has people who are on the program who shouldn’t [be].”
Former President Donald Trump, speaking to reporters Sunday, acknowledged the likelihood of “fairly significant” changes to the bill in the Senate but expressed confidence that a final version would reach his desk. “I want the senators to make the changes they want,” he said. “We’ll go back to the House and we’ll see if we can get them.”
Trump reportedly told House Republicans last week, “Don’t f— around with Medicaid,” according to NBC News.
House Democrats, meanwhile, have seized on the potential Medicaid impacts. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said the bill would “represent the largest healthcare cut in our country’s history,” arguing it betrays Trump’s previous promises to protect the program. “Millions of people will lose their Medicaid coverage, and hardworking American taxpayers will be forced to pay higher premiums, copays and deductibles,” Jeffries said.
The bill passed the House last week by a narrow 215-214 vote, with two Republicans voting against it, one voting “present,” and two absent. Any changes made in the Senate would require another vote in the House before the bill can be sent to the president.
Speaker Johnson urged Senate Republicans to keep changes to a minimum. “We are one team,” he said. “It’s the Senate and the House Republicans together that will deliver this ball over the goal line.”
