President Donald Trump has repeatedly vowed he wouldn’t allow Medicaid to be cut, but House Republicans’ bill to fund his agenda aims to cut hundreds of billions of dollars from the program that provides health care for poor, elderly and disabled Americans.
For several months, Trump has promised not to touch the program, though on Monday he urged Republicans to “UNIFY” around the “one, big beautiful bill,” which plans to slash Medicaid spending by imposing work requirements for recipients, make more frequent eligibility checks, and penalize states like New York and California that offer Medicaid to illegal immigrants.
The Congressional Budget Office wrote in a letter to Energy and Commerce Chairman Brett Guthrie that the proposal met its lofty target for $880 billion of savings over the next decade. The health portions would save about $715 billion, according to CBO. However, at least 8.6 million more Americans will go uninsured.
In his first-ever campaign speech for president in 2015, Trump said he would “Save Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security without cuts,” then tried to dismantle it once in office.
During his last campaign, Trump primarily promised to save Social Security and Medicare, with Medicaid not specifically mentioned in his platform, though he pledged to protect it once it came up as a target for cuts.
While promising not to touch Medicaid, Trump has countered that the administration is looking for “fraud” and “abuse” in the benefits program.
President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference about prescription drug prices, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, May 12, 2025, in Washington.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
On “Meet the Press” on May 4, Trump said he would veto the bill if it includes cuts to Medicaid while adding, “but they’re not cutting it.”
“They’re looking at fraud, waste and abuse. And nobody minds that,” he said. “If illegal immigrants are in the mix, if people that aren’t supposed to be there, people that are non-citizens are in the mix, nobody minds that. Waste, fraud and abuse. But we’re not cutting Medicaid, we’re not cutting Medicare, and we’re not cutting Social Security.”
When asked if he could guarantee that Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security will not be touched while before a Cabinet meeting on Feb. 26, Trump said, “I have said it so many times, you shouldn’t be asking me that question.”
“We’re not going to touch it. Now, we are going to look for fraud,” he continued.
Those other times included during a Feb. 18 interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, when, while referring to Medicaid and Medicare, Trump said, “None of that stuff is going to be touched.”
“We’re going to love and cherish Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid,” Trump also said in the Oval Office on Jan. 31. “We’re not going to do anything with that, other than if we can find some abuse or waste, we’ll do something, but the people won’t be affected. It will only be more effective and better.”
In March, the White House also maintained in a statement that Trump will not cut Medicaid benefits, referring to remarks by Trump vowing not to touch the program while highlighting reports on entitlement program payment errors.
“What kind of a person doesn’t support eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse in government spending that ultimately costs taxpayers more?” the White House statement said.
In a Truth Social post on Monday, the president noted that an executive order he signed that day would “slash the cost of prescription drugs” and the “hundreds of billions of tariff money coming in” should be factored into the bill’s scoring.
Pushback against cuts
In Tuesday’s markup, House and Energy ranking member Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., said Republicans including Trump broke their promises to not cut Medicaid under the current GOP proposal.
“So, you can call it a trim, you can call it a cut, call whatever you want. The bottom line is these people are going to lose their Medicaid,” he said.
House Republicans are working to advance key components of their bill this week. With Republicans in control of both chambers of Congress, they are using a process called reconciliation that only requires a simple majority for passage to fast-track their legislation.
In this April 9, 2025, file photo, Sen. Josh Hawley speaks during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.
Win McNamee/Getty Images, FILE
The legislation has already received pushback from Republicans in the Senate who will have to go along with it, including Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, who wrote an opinion piece in the New York Times Monday warning against moves to cut Medicaid.
“This wing of the party wants Republicans to build our big, beautiful bill around slashing health insurance for the working poor. But that argument is both morally wrong and politically suicidal,” Hawley wrote.
The Federation of American Hospitals, which represents more than 1,000 hospitals and health systems throughout the U.S., criticized the “drastic cuts” to Medicaid in the bill that it said will “slash health coverage for millions” while calling out Trump’s promise to protect the benefits.
“Congressional Republicans and President Trump rightly pledged to protect Medicaid benefits and coverage — this bill fails that test,” Federation of American Hospitals’ President and CEO Chip Kahn said in a statement on Monday. “It is imperative Republicans go back to the drawing board; too many lives depend on it.”
