REPUBLICAN HOUSE HOLDS OVERNIGHT SUNDAY SESSION TO SAVE TRUMP’S MEDICAID CUTS BILL!

CALITODAY (May 18, 2025):
Donald Trump’s Medicaid‑cutting proposal, dubbed the “BBB” (Big Beautiful Bill), aims to slash healthcare coverage for tens of millions of Americans. Critics derisively call it “Big Boobs Bursting,” mocking both its initials and its devastating impact.

Administrative Burdens and Work Requirements
Doctors, patients, and health‑policy experts warn that a wave of new paperwork and red tape will rip away essential care. As part of President Trump’s legislative wishlist, House Republicans plan to impose strict work requirements on all Medicaid enrollees aged 19 to 64—with only narrow exemptions. States would have no authority to waive them. According to GOP figures presented to the Energy and Commerce Committee, nearly 5 million people would lose Medicaid coverage under these rules.

Republicans defending the changes insist they target only “able‑bodied” adults who ought to work but choose not to.

“I’m all for work requirements,” said Rep. Don Bacon (R‑Neb.). “If you’re of working age and healthy, you should be in the workforce—improving skills or holding down a job. Most Americans want that.”

Exempt groups—those with disabilities, pregnant women, and people in jails or treatment centers—are “the truly needy,” Republicans say. But to qualify for exemption, individuals must submit proper forms and documentation in perfect order at application and renewal, a hurdle that many fear will prove insurmountable.

Scope of Savings and No Safety Net
Work requirements represent the single largest savings item in the bill’s health section—about $301 billion over seven years—almost entirely by kicking millions off Medicaid. There is no transition to other coverage or job‑training support.

“They aren’t saving by making care more efficient or keeping people healthier,” warns Jennifer Wagner, director of Medicaid Eligibility & Enrollment at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. “These ‘savings’ mean states spend that money—or people simply go without care.”

Georgia is currently the only state with a Medicaid work requirement, part of its partial expansion program. There, very low‑income adults qualify only if they meet the monthly work or community engagement rules.

Personal Impact: One Atlanta Social Worker’s Struggle
Forty‑seven‑year‑old Atlanta social worker Tanisha Corporal needed coverage after her nonprofit job ended last summer. She applied three times through Georgia’s online portal—but her records vanished. Her appeal was denied.

“I emailed, but got no reply—or just short, unclear, untrue responses,” she recalls.

Finally, after going public at a state hearing, her case was approved in March—but only after months uninsured. She skipped her annual mammogram despite a family history of breast cancer; her college‑aged son dislocated a finger and delayed care fearing the cost. She eventually paid the retroactive bills—but opponents say her ordeal will become the nationwide norm if the bill passes.

Lawmakers Spar Over Process and Politics
“I believe you’re effectively doing everything possible to disqualify people—either they can’t fill out the paperwork or don’t know how,” said Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D‑N.J.) during an all‑night committee session wrangling over the bill’s details.

Nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation analysis shows no widespread “idle adult” population on Medicaid—two‑thirds of the 26.1 million adults enrolled in 2023 were employed, while nearly 30 percent stayed home due to caregiving, illness, disability, or schooling.

“These are low‑income people whose lives are already complicated by variable work hours, part‑time or gig jobs, and changing employers,” notes Larry Levitt, KFF’s vice president for health policy. “Any of them could easily be dropped.”

Upgrading state IT systems for work‑requirement verification is itself a major line item: Georgia’s online enrollment buildout cost nearly five times more than covering benefits.

Partisan Divide and Leadership Frustrations
Originally championed in Trump’s first term, work requirements were promoted as an anti‑poverty tool. Arkansas briefly implemented them in 2018 before a federal judge struck them down in 2019—over 18,000 lost coverage in just five months.

House conservatives are pushing to accelerate the work‑requirement start date, front‑loading the savings (and coverage losses) well ahead of the 2028 presidential election. Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R‑Calif.) blasted his party for blocking a key committee vote to advance the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” calling it “a real misstep.”

Five House “fiscal hawks” (Reps. Chip Roy, Ralph Norman, Josh Brecheen, Andrew Clyde, and Lloyd Smucker) voted down the motion Friday by 16–21. Smucker later clarified his “no” vote was a procedural maneuver to preserve committee review of the OBBB.

Wider Legislative Package and Political Stakes
The GOP’s broader package slated for Memorial Day includes: repeal of overtime and tip taxes; extension of Trump’s 2017 tax cuts; Medicaid work requirements; and reversal of Democrats’ 2022 green‑energy tax credits. Millions could lose health coverage; state and local tax deductions would shrink.

McCarthy even lamented that Trump is “both president and Speaker”—joking that only then might the bill pass. The House Budget Committee reconvenes Sunday at 10 pm to try again.

Meanwhile… Trump Compares Qatar Jet to Statue of Liberty Gift
Separately, President Trump faces bipartisan criticism for accepting Qatar’s gift of a luxury 747‑8 for Air Force One—later earmarked for his personal library after he leaves office. He visited Doha on May 14, where Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani greeted him warmly.

Sen. Rand Paul (R‑Ky.) called the $400 million jet a “conflict of interest,” likening public perception to trading on America’s largest arms sales.

“Could owning a $400 million plane skew policy? Possibly,” he told ABC’s This Week.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent defended the gift on CNN, analogizing it to France’s Statue of Liberty and Britain’s Resolute Desk. He also touted Qatar Airways’ $160 billion Boeing order—“the largest in company history”—as a bigger prize.

Former Vice President Mike Pence, on NBC’s Meet the Press, rebuked Trump for critiquing America’s role in the Middle East on foreign soil, especially in Saudi Arabia—the birthplace of most 9/11 hijackers. Pence nevertheless praised Trump’s economic deals on the trip.

Looking Ahead
As Washington wrangles over Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” questions loom about whether GOP leaders can unite to pass massive spending cuts, reshape Medicaid, and reconcile internal divisions—before Americans head to the polls in 2028.

— HẠNH DƯƠNG, CALITODAY