Democrats plan to put the squeeze on four of the most vulnerable Republicans in Congress as the GOP gears up to pass a bill that may slash the social safety net to pay for tax cuts.
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) on Friday announced the Fight to Save Medicaid, a pressure campaign that aims to derail the bill’s passage in the House of Representatives, where Republicans hold only a three-seat majority.
The plan targets Nebraska’s Don Bacon, New York’s Mike Lawler and Pennsylvania’s Brian Fitzpatrick, who all represent districts that Kamala Harris carried in last November’s election. Also in the cross-hairs is Tom Barrett, a freshman lawmaker whose district in Michigan went for Trump by only a slim margin.
The DNC will organise “people’s town halls” in the four lawmakers’ districts this month, in partnership with its House campaign arm, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC).
The party will also encourage voters to call and email the lawmakers to share their views on the bill, hold in-person gatherings and post on social media, all tactics to which Democrats nationwide have lately turned as they hope to claw back power in Washington.
“The American people are furious at Trump and Republicans’ dangerous attacks on their healthcare, and vulnerable Republican representatives. Barrett, Bacon, Lawler, and Fitzpatrick will seal their political fate if they go along with Trump’s disastrous budget,” the DNC chair, Ken Martin, said in a statement.
“Our representatives must serve the people – not ignore them. Republicans will either learn that lesson now or at the ballot box.”
House Republican leaders hope that they can have the legislation, which Trump has called the “one, beautiful bill”, approved by the chamber and sent to the Senate by Memorial Day on 26 May.
Under a budget framework the House enacted last month, the bill would reduce government spending by at least $1.5tn (£1.2tn) and extend tax cuts that were first enacted during Donald Trump’s first term, at a cost of $4.5tn.
Medicaid, which provides health insurance to poor people and those who are disabled, could lose more than $800bn in funding. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap), also known as food stamps, could also be cut by more than $200bn.
Top Republicans have insisted that the spending reductions would target only “waste, fraud and abuse”, but experts say losing that much funding would cripple the programmes. Senate Republicans, who are following a separate budget framework, have indicated they are less interested in making deep cuts to the federal safety net, at least for now.
Spokespeople for Lawler and Fitzpatrick did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for Barrett referred to a statement in which the congressman said the forthcoming bill would be “a thoughtful and responsible piece of legislation that will ultimately improve the lives of people across Michigan and the United States”.
In an interview this week with the Omaha broadcaster KETV, Bacon expressed reservations about the House plan, perhaps an indication that fellow moderate Republicans are not entirely onboard.
“Most of us do not want to do” the potential cut to Snap, Bacon said.
He did say $480bn could be trimmed from Medicaid by imposing work requirements on able-bodied adults without children, undertaking an annual audit of recipients and removing undocumented immigrants from the programme, but added that he would hesitate to make deeper cuts.
“We’re trying to do this very carefully. But I wanted to tell our leadership that if you are going to cut above this, you’re going to have to persuade about 20 of us, or maybe more, that it’s not going to affect the quality of healthcare for individuals who need it, or hospitals,” Bacon said.
Trump, Joe Biden and Barack Obama all lost their party’s majority in the House in the midterm election of their first term, and Democrats are hoping the pattern will continue next year.
