Trump's Budget Is A Betrayal Of His Promise To Working-Class Americans

Marc H. Morial 
President and CEO
National Urban League

"Donald Trump and extreme MAGA Republicans are doing everything they can to tank our economy, drive us toward a recession and gut the healthcare of the American people by visiting upon them the largest Medicaid cut in history, along with the largest cut to nutritional assistance in American history, all in service of enacting massive tax breaks for their billionaire donors like Elon Musk. It’s a toxic scheme that they cannot hide from because it continues to be on full display on the House Floor and on the Senate Floor for the American people." --  House Democratic Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries

I call it the great bait-and-switch.

Betraying his promise not to cut Medicaid, President Trump has pushed through Congress a budget that will require the deepest cut to Medicaid in history, while gutting programs and services that are essential to the health, safety, and financial security of millions of average Americans.

Trump and his allies in Congress are betraying the working-class Americans who trusted them to feed the insatiable greed of billionaires.

In fact, even swiping food from the tables of working families and stripping health care from children and disabled Americans isn't enough; future generations must be burdened with debt so today's wealthiest can reap even more. With this week's vote, Congress not only agreed to slash $1.5 trillion from programs that benefit communities, but also to raise the debt ceiling by $5 trillion — all to pay for an astonishing windfall for the wealthiest 5% of Americans.

While the Trump administration and some Republican lawmakers continue to claim they won't cut Medicaid benefits, they're all fully aware that the budget to which they've committed absolutely requires cutting Medicaid benefits.  Every member of Congress received a memo from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office confirming it is impossible to cut $1.5 trillion in spending without slashing Medicaid.

Nearly every Republican in both the House and the Senate voted for the budget anyway. 

Adding insult to injury, the gutting of the social safety net comes just as many more Americans are likely to need to rely on it, as a chaotic tariff policy risks massive job loss and soaring inflation.

The cuts to Medicaid that the budget requires endanger the health and financial security of more than 70 million children, seniors, people with disabilities and working families, according to a report issued last month by the National Urban League and 10 other leading civil rights and health equity organizations. While the cuts threaten Americans of all backgrounds, communities of color would suffer especially widespread harm: nearly 42 million people, or approximately a third of all people of color in the U.S., rely on Medicaid for health care.

Achieving the spending cuts to which Congress committed will require either:

• Stripping health care away from every single one of the 31 million children covered by Medicaid, 
• Ending coverage for all adults age 65 and older who use Medicaid to obtain essential health care; or 
• ​75% of all Medicaid funding for nursing home services or home and community-based care for older adults and people with disabilities.

The looming cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, meanwhile, endanger the health and financial security of more than 42 million American — nearly all of them in families with children, older adults, or people with disabilities.  The meager $6.20 per person per day that provides necessary nutrition and a measure of balance to precarious household budgets will be diverted to billionaires.

The reality of Trump's budget stands in stark contrast to his campaign's pandering to the working class, whom he promised to end "the inflation nightmare" and bring down the cost of "groceries, cars -- everything."  Instead, his tariffs will cost the typical American household an average of $4,600 a year.

This is a moment that will test lawmakers in both parties. When they no longer can avoid the harsh reality of the budget they approved, will Republicans honor their new rhetoric about being the party of the working class? Will Democrats stand up against a reckless fiscal blueprint?

For our part, together with our partners in the newly-launched Fair Budget Coalition, the National Urban League will continue to demand a responsible federal budget that centers fairness, opportunity, and economic security for all Americans.

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