The Briefing with Jen Psaki
Failed idea features prominently in Republican bill despite red state regret
Thu, 22 May 2025 05:06:27 +0000
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Georgia and Arkansas have both tried to implement work requirements for Medicaid, with both producing disastrous results. Now Republicans in Congress want to impose those work requirements on a national level and seem oblivious to the idea's previous failure and the regret expressed by fellow Republicans for their role in it.
What is the Republican bill about Medicaid?
In just a moment, we're going to talk with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. No one's done more to push health care through the House and to protect it than Speaker Pelosi. And I am looking forward to talking to her about that and whether she thinks Mike Johnson has the votes. But I want to start by just talking about what's actually in this bill.
That is a pivotal thing for all of us to know and and whether it's going to get through. I mean, Mike Johnson announced that he plans to bring Trump's, quote, big, beautiful bill to the floor for the other tonight or tomorrow morning. Well, as I mentioned, we're going to keep watching that. We'll see. We'll see what he has.
One of the factors here is whether or not the right wing of the Republican Party is willing to agree to the Medicaid cuts and what they have or whether they want more. And House Republicans have basically been desperately pushing to rush this budget bill into law, to rush it through on their own fabricated Memorial Day timeline. They basically pulled an all-nighter last night, starting at 1 a.m.
last night because that was the earliest they could start, in order to speed this bill through as quickly as possible. Conveniently, literally in the middle of the night, in the dark of night. The hearings were so late that at one point, at least one Republican congressman, South Carolina's Ralph Norman, you can see him right there having a little beauty slumber, I suppose.
He seemed to have trouble staying awake. Seemed to have a lot of trouble actually staying awake. His poor hand, I don't know what's happening there.
But at the end of the day, I mean, while massive cuts to Medicaid, to health care, SNAP benefits, that's all of what's in this bill, and we're going to talk about it, may be utterly boring, I guess, to Ralph Norman and other Republicans who weren't caught on camera last night, to some sitting in the comfort of House chambers. Americans all over the country are understandably worried and outraged.
I mean, this is how local news, which always tells you whether it's breaking through, is covering this budget.
Hundreds of thousands of Utahns are at risk of losing access to medical care or paying a higher cost.
Right now, Republicans in Congress are planning big cuts to Medicaid with the aim to offset tax cuts.
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