Trump warns House Republicans, ‘Don’t f--- around with Medicaid

Irfan Bhatti

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump warned the right flank of House Republicans not to touch Medicaid any further, urging GOP lawmakers to rally behind what he's called his "big, beautiful bill" to carry out his domestic agenda.  "Don't f‒‒‒ around with Medicaid," Trump said, according to multiple Republican lawmakers present at the meeting, who agreed to speak candidly about what Trump told them if USA TODAY granted them anonymity.  Trump's message came as members of the far-right House Freedom Caucus have pushed for deeper cuts to Medicaid to support the legislation, which Trump and Republican House leadership hope to pass through a budget process known as reconciliation.

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00:00President Donald Trump on Tuesday warned House Republicans,

00:03don't F, around with Medicaid, as he pressed them during a closed-door meeting to pass a

00:08major tax bill, a source told CNBC. Trump's blunt message came during a visit to Capitol Hill.

00:15Movement on the tax bill has been hampered by a small number of Trump's fellow Republicans

00:19in the House of Representatives, including a group that wants cuts to the massive Medicaid

00:24health care coverage program, which covers primarily low-income people. Those Republicans

00:29also want work requirements added to the eligibility requirements for Medicaid.

00:34Critics say work requirements would create a bureaucratic nightmare,

00:38forcing the government to try to verify and track the employment status and job-searching

00:42efforts of tens of millions of people. A tracking poll in April by the health policy research group

00:48KFF found that 61 percent of Americans oppose major cuts to staff and spending at federal

00:53health agencies. Other lawmakers who have been stumbling blocks to passing the bill include

00:58Republicans from New York and California, who want even higher increases to a proposed hike

01:03in the deduction for state and local taxes, and others who want cuts to the federal deficit from

01:08the bill. Medicaid, which is jointly financed by the federal government and individual states,

01:14and the smaller children's health insurance program, cover nearly 80 million Americans.

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