NEW — House GOP leaders are still struggling to find enough spending cuts across fraud crackdowns on Medicaid, Medicare and other social programs to put together their next long-shot reconciliation bill.
President Trump is now personally demanding Republicans include $350 billion of military funding and pass it quickly.
But the spending cuts are the biggest fight ahead and the reason so many vulnerable Republicans say a third GOP-only bill won’t happen — bucking Trump’s demands.
In one example, some senior House Republicans were pushing to crack down on “fraud” within the Supplemental Security Income program, which provides cash assistance to Americans who are low-income, elderly or disabled, as they struggle for pay-fors.
But Republicans in tough reelection campaigns balked. Budget Chair Jodey Arrington told @kelseybrugger it’s no longer on the table.
“It's unfortunate,” Arrington said. “If anybody's nervous, it's purely political, it's purely PR.”
“I'm prepared to do every fraud measure to stop the siphoning of monies for these programs and for the people who are eligible,” Arrington added. “Not everybody is prepared to do that.”
Arrington also told us he thinks there’s “more than enough resources” to fully offset the cost of Trump’s $350 billion military request and the full bill.
But House GOP leaders say that decision hasn’t been finalized.
“That's historically what our members have looked at for reconciliation, but we haven't made any final decisions,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, when asked if the goal for the forthcoming package is revenue neutrality.
https://t.co/pTgLsNs2iJ via @politico
16 million kids rely on SNAP and they could all be hit by this self-made calamity later this year. The Repub and Dem governors of all 50 states have come together to ask Congress to address it.
Any farm legislation in the Senate should include a delay of the SNAP cost shift.
Scoop: Senate GOP is considering delaying a cost-share SNAP requirement passed in their megabill last year - in order to garner enough support to pass a farm bill
Some Rs privately support delaying it, as their states will be hit by the SNAP overhaul
https://t.co/Wl0Vt410Dn
Your budget proposal would slash WIC's fruit & vegetable benefit, leaving low-income pregnant women & new moms with only $13 per month to buy fruits & vegetables.
It appears the answer to the question "Will Congress attack hungry children again, this time to pay for one hour of war in Iran?" is a very eager hell yes. https://t.co/9bgsa0EtVr
The Trump No Tax Ons have been political disappointments—it does not make sense to reorient the entire progressive fiscal policy agenda (which you have to do when you’re doing $1T+ of tax cuts) around imitating either on political or policy grounds.
They expect you to believe that millions of low-income people suddenly no longer needed help affording food when the economy didn’t improve & groceries didn’t get any more affordable.
Heres what did happen: They enacted the deepest SNAP cuts in history.
Hunger isn’t “freedom.”
Trump: We can't take care of daycare. We're a big country. We're fighting wars. It's not possible for us to take care of daycare, Medicaid, Medicare, all these things.
Trump: We can't take care of daycare. We're a big country. We're fighting wars. It's not possible for us to take care of daycare, Medicaid, Medicare, all these things.
Congressional Republicans appear ready to put SNAP benefits even MORE at risk for kids and their families for the next 10 years, in order to pay for ONE HOUR of war in Iran.
I wish I were making this up. https://t.co/9bgsa0EtVr 1/7
The nonpartisan scorekeepers at CBO tell us this will pay for the equivalent of, according to figures provided by Pentagon officials, ONE HOUR OF WAR IN IRAN.
A 10 year policy change making it harder for families to put food on the table... for 1 hour of war. 6/
Ohio had the Chair of the Senate’s Social Security Subcommittee and the driving force behind the Social Security Fairness Act, which when it became law restored full benefits for 2.3 million cops, firefighters, and teachers.
And now they have… this guy. Smh.
While discussing different impacts on the Social Security trust fund, SSA Chief Actuary Karen Glenn has to explain to U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) that non-citizens are not eligible for Social Security payments.
MORENO: "How about having non-citizens receiving Social Security?"
GLENN: "Non-citizens do not receive Social Security."
MORENO: "None at all? There's not a single, solitary, non-American citizen that's received it? Is that your testimony?"
GLENN: "By law, they are not allowed."
Oof. Lots to say about this proposal, but as a starting point, I think it's reallllllly risky for Dems to wade into "who can do the most tax cuts" territory
Flyers who have pride tape on their sticks for warmups: Travis Konecny, Travis Sanheim, Garnet Hathaway, Owen Tippett, Noah Cates, Nic Deslauriers, Emil Andrae.