Congress

GOP leaders snubbed the hard right on Medicaid. They’re vowing to fight back.

Published

1 year ago

May 13, 2025

House Republican leaders appear to have won support from key moderates by backing off the most controversial proposals to overhaul Medicaid — but it has created new risks for the GOP’s domestic policy megabill.

Fierce pressure is now building from hospitals and clinics to the Medicaid cuts that have survived while conservative hard-liners are threatening to withhold their votes if they don’t get deeper trims to the safety-net program.

It adds up to a bumpy road ahead for the House Energy and Commerce Committee as it prepares for a marathon meeting to advance the legislation Tuesday afternoon.

The proposal unveiled by Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) would not slash federal reimbursement rates in most cases or impose per-capita caps on payments to states, but it would likely force states to revamp how they finance their programs or cut benefits. A preliminary Congressional Budget Office estimate requested by Democrats found that more than 8.6 million people would go uninsured if the health portions of the GOP’s party-line package become law.

While such significant changes to Medicaid could face significant resistance in the Senate — Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), for example, wrote in a New York Times op-ed Monday that big Medicaid cuts are “morally wrong and politically suicidal” — Guthrie appears to have the votes he needs to make progress this week.

Rep. Nick Langworthy (R-N.Y.), an Energy and Commerce member who had been wary of deep cuts to Medicaid, praised the “bold” proposal in a social media post Monday, saying it “achieves our top priorities: protecting Medicaid for those who genuinely need it.”

So did Rep. Gabe Evans (R-Colo.), another panel member who said the legislation, “follows through on Republicans’ promises to cut waste, fraud, and abuse while protecting coverage for Colorado’s most vulnerable populations.”

“The critics will spread fear about cuts for political purposes, so let me clear: this bill allows Medicaid spending to increase year-over-year for the next ten years,” he added.

Once past the committee, however, the legislation faces a whirlwind of threats on the House floor, where opposition from any three Republican members could sink the entire sweeping package of tax cuts, border security enhancements, defense plus-ups and more.

A key leader of the hard-right bloc, Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), said in social media posts Monday that Guthrie’s proposal doesn’t offer “ANY transformative changes” to Medicaid, “among MANY [other] problems.“

“We will need SIGNIFICANT additional changes to garner my support,” Roy added.

And it remains to be seen if a broader group of swing-district Republicans would be swayed by the proposal. Guthrie has made the case that the legislation would preserve Medicaid for the most vulnerable instead of “capable adults who choose not to work,” but Democrats are prepared to weaponize coverage-loss predictions and potentially major impacts on state budgets to pressure potential GOP holdouts.

“The Republicans are trying to say this is a moderate bill,” ranking member Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) told reporters Monday, referring to the proposals GOP leaders opted not to include. “Nothing could be further from the truth.”

A mounting pressure campaign from health care facilities could be especially influential; many Republicans have cited the potential for hospital and clinic closures in expressing wariness about deeper cuts. While worst-case scenarios did not come to fruition, providers are arguing the proposed policies would still have devastating impacts.

The National Association of Community Health Centers is blanketing Capitol Hill for a fly-in Tuesday, and hospital groups are issuing blistering statements. Hospitals are major employers in many members’ districts and can have significant sway over members’ votes.

“Congressional Republicans and President Trump rightly pledged to protect Medicaid benefits and coverage — this bill fails that test,” said Chip Kahn, president of the Federation for American Hospitals, in a statement. “It is imperative Republicans go back to the drawing board; too many lives depend on it.”

“Congress has a moral obligation to consider the harm that such disastrous cuts would have on America’s health safety net,” added Sister Mary Haddad, the Catholic Health Association CEO.

Some blue state governments also warned about coverage losses and crushing fiscal impacts. Sarah Adelman, commissioner of New Jersey’s Medicaid agency, said the proposal “would cut people off from coverage and take vital funding away from New Jersey” by curtailing provider taxes, a common practice states use to finance their Medicaid programs.

She also said that punishing states for using their own funding to offer coverage regardless of immigration status is “cruel and short-sighted.”

The Greater New York Hospital Association also slammed the bill, arguing in a statement that work requirements could lead to 1.6 million people to lose coverage in the state. The group also projected New York would lose $1.6 billion in federal funds from the cut to expansion funding for coverage of undocumented immigrants. New York is one of 14 states that use state funds to cover undocumented children.

Republicans, meanwhile, are accusing Democrats and their allies of fear-mongering about the impacts. They are feuding, for instance, over one CBO estimate Democrats used to claim the legislation would lead to 13.7 million more people going uninsured — an estimate that included coverage losses attributable to the potential expiration of enhanced subsidies for Affordable Care Act, something Republicans never meant to address in the party-line megabill, even if they are skeptical about extending them.

“Democrats are pedaling incorrect reports that include policies that aren’t even in the bill,” Guthrie said in a statement. “It is reckless that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle claimed an artificially high number in alleged coverage loss just so they can fear monger and score political points.”

Congress

House Oversight requests Alan Dershowitz testify in Epstein probe

Published

20 hours ago

June 12, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

The House Oversight Committee requested that Alan Dershowitz, the lawyer who once represented Jeffery Epstein, testify as part of its investigation into the federal government’s handling of the Epstein files.

The interview is tentatively slated for 10 a.m. on July 9, with a video and transcript of the testimony being released “as expeditiously as practical,” Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) wrote in a letter to Dershowitz on Friday.

“Due to public reporting, documents released by the Department of Justice, documents obtained by the Committee, and your former role as Mr. Epstein’s attorney, the Committee believes you have information that will assist in its investigation,” Comer wrote.

Comer told reporters on Wednesday that he wanted to hear from Dershowitz, who helped Epstein secure a controversial plea deal in his 2008 sex abuse case.

“I’m looking forward to testifying,” Dershowitz wrote in a text message to Blue Light News on Friday, adding that he is “trying to adjust my schedule” for July 9.

Congress

Cornyn tells Mike Lee to lay off John Thune

Published

22 hours ago

June 12, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Sen. John Cornyn isn’t a card-carrying member of the Senate GOP’s growing YOLO caucus. But with less than seven months left in office after losing his primary, the Texas Republican appears to be feeling newly free to speak his mind.

The latest clap-back came Thursday night and the early hours of Friday morning, when Cornyn called a conservative influencer a “grifter” and told Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) on social media to stop publicly blaming fellow Republicans — including Senate Majority Leader John Thune — for the fact that the GOP elections bill doesn’t have support to pass inside the party.

“You don’t have the votes” for the SAVE America Act, Cornyn posted on X. “@LeaderJohnThune can’t change that. It is math.”

He was directing his comments at Lee, who had just penned a post telling Thune, “let’s do this!”

Cornyn continued, “Try focusing on Democrats instead of Republicans. Republican on Republican attacks are hurting our chances to win the majority in November.”

Lee responded to ask, “on what planet is this an attack on Republicans?” and appeared to suggest a staffer was tweeting on Cornyn’s behalf: “Once my friend John Cornyn realizes that you’re saying this in his name—whoever you are—I don’t think he’ll be happy with you.”

Cornyn, however, is known for posting himself on his social media accounts in a chamber where many Senate accounts are run solely by staff. And he’s been making it clear all week that he will push back on Trump and his party when he thinks it’s needed.

In multiple conversations with reporters in the Capitol, Cornyn said that Republicans need to “stop the circular firing squad.” And he added that he won’t intentionally be “a thorn in [Trump’s] side,” but he’s also “not going to go out of my way to try to appease him.”

“I want him to succeed, I want the Republican Party to succeed, I want the country to succeed,” Cornyn said this week. “But on a case-by-case basis, when I think there’s been overreach or just a bad idea, I’m not going to hesitate to weigh in.”

The four-term senator’s comments come after he lost his primary last month to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who Trump endorsed in the final days of the runoff.

Cornyn said in an interview with The New York Times that he was not a “wounded bear” but that he believed Trump’s insistence on “slavish adherence” was going to backfire for Republicans in the midterms and result in “the most miserable two years of his life” if Democrats flip the House or Senate.

“I think it is going to be a pretty bumpy ride for the next seven months,” Cornyn said.

Congress

Capitol agenda: What Schumer told us about AI

Published

1 day ago

June 12, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Chuck Schumer wants Congress to pass AI legislation. But he’s casting doubt on it happening this year.

“In this Congress, it’s hard,” the Senate minority leader said in an interview Thursday.

Schumer’s reality check isn’t a complete door-slam. But it underscores the steep climb lawmakers face to bridge a slew of intra-party and inter-chamber divides about what Washington’s approach should be toward the emerging opportunities and risks from the rapidly developing technology.

The problems are multi-pronged.

The White House, whose posture toward AI has shifted dramatically in recent weeks, is angling to enact legislation that would preempt state laws in favor of a national standard. Most recently, administration officials have been exploring a plan to attach preemption legislation to bills designed to shore up kids’ safety online. But there are issues — House Republicans aren’t in love with the Senate GOP’s kid safety bills and Senate Majority Leader John Thune has warned that many senators have concerns “about not trampling states’ rights in the process.”

Democrats aren’t unified on what to do next, with the public broadly skeptical about AI.

Some House and Senate Democrats are leery of state preemption and want to wait until next year to tackle AI, when they might be in power. Opposition from key Democrats is a major factor derailing an attempt by Reps. Lori Trahan and Jay Obernolte to strike a deal on legislation that would set nationwide safety and transparency rules while restricting state action. And Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have proposed a moratorium on AI data centers pending stricter government oversight.

Schumer is striking a balanced tone on how to proceed, arguing that there are “tremendous benefits” from AI but that “we also have to have guardrails.”

“We should get something done on AI, and it’s … got to be balanced — keep innovation strong, but have guardrails to prevent the dangers,” he said. “That’s a hard needle to thread, but I would very much like to see that get done the sooner the better.”

What else we’re watching:

— FISA LAPSE, CLAYTON NOMINATION: Thune is vowing to move “fairly quickly” to confirm Jay Clayton as director of national intelligence, with the FISA Section 702 spy authority set to lapse at midnight thanks to a stalemate between Democrats and the White House over the position.

— GOP ADVANCES BIG DEFENSE BOOST — Republicans have taken the first steps toward granting President Donald Trump’s request for the largest budget ever for the Pentagon. Senate Armed Services members on Thursday approved a draft of their annual defense authorization bill outlining priorities for $1.14 trillion in defense spending next year. The House Appropriations defense subcommittee advanced $1.1 trillion in fiscal 2027 funding for the Defense Department in a closed-door markup.

Calen Razor and Connor O’Brien contributed reporting.