{"id":2436466,"date":"2025-05-19T13:16:02","date_gmt":"2025-05-19T17:16:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/white-house-defends-medicaid-cuts-as-house-republicans-remain-divided\/"},"modified":"2025-05-19T13:16:59","modified_gmt":"2025-05-19T17:16:59","slug":"white-house-defends-medicaid-cuts-as-house-republicans-remain-divided","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/white-house-defends-medicaid-cuts-as-house-republicans-remain-divided\/","title":{"rendered":"White House defends Medicaid cuts as House Republicans remain divided"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwhite-house-defends-medicaid-cuts-as-house-republicans-remain-divided%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2436466&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The White House is defending President Trump&#8217;s proposed tax-and-spending bill, which might lead to cuts in Medicaid. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt emphasized that Trump aims to protect Medicaid for vulnerable populations, such as pregnant women, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/white-house-releases-list-of-president-trumps-accomplishments-and-it-is-historic\/\" title=\"... Releases List of ...\u2019s Accomplishments \u2013  And It Is Historic!\">low-income families<\/a>, and seniors. She stated that able-bodied individuals receiving Medicaid should either work or volunteer for at least 20 hours a week.<\/p>\n<p>There is ongoing division among House Republicans regarding Medicaid reforms necessary for advancing the legislation. Fiscal conservatives have resisted measures in a recent bill due to concerns about spending, whereas centrist Republicans worry about the political ramifications of reforming entitlement programs. some centrists also seek to increase tax deductions for state and local governments, which conflicts with <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >deficit reduction goals championed<\/a> by fiscal conservatives.<\/p>\n<p>Leavitt urged all Republicans to unite in support of Trump&#8217;s legislative agenda, which she argues is aligned with the principles that granted them a congressional majority. Discussions are still taking place on how to implement the proposed changes effectively, with the House Speaker expressing commitment to advancing work requirements for Medicaid as soon as feasible.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">White House defends Medicaid cuts as House Republicans remain divided<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2125901\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/white-house\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">White House<\/a> is pushing back on concerns that President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Donald Trump<\/a>&lsquo;s &ldquo;one big, beautiful&rdquo; tax-and-spending bill will make unpopular cuts to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/medicaid\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Medicaid<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The president wants to preserve and protect Medicaid for Americans who this program was intended for, the most vulnerable in our society &mdash; pregnant women, low income families, seniors, those who truly need these benefits &mdash; and it should be going to people who physically cannot work,&rdquo; White House press secretary <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/karoline-leavitt\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Karoline Leavitt<\/a> told reporters on Monday.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3415564\/trump-confidence-white-house-doctors-after-biden-prostate-cancer-diagnosis\/\">Trump has confidence in doctors after Biden cancer diagnosis: White House<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3415589\/jd-vance-joe-biden-honest-evaluation-health-cancer\/\">Vance calls for &#8216;honest&#8217; evaluation of Biden&#8217;s health as president in light of cancer diagnosis<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/3415490\/watch-live-karoline-leavitt-delivers-white-house-press-briefing\/\">WATCH LIVE: Karoline Leavitt delivers White House press briefing<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Per Leavitt, Trump would like &ldquo;to see able-bodied Americans at least working 20 hours per week, whether that&rsquo;s part-time or full-time.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Whether that&rsquo;s even looking for work or volunteering for 20 hours a week, if they are receiving Medicaid,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;These are common-sense reforms to ensure those that this program was intended for receive those benefits.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Republican policy regarding Medicaid is one area of disagreement among <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/section\/news\/house\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">House<\/a> GOP lawmakers as the conference continues to negotiate legislation that would enact Trump&rsquo;s priorities, including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/taxes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">tax cuts<\/a> to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/immigration\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">immigration programs<\/a>, into law.<\/p>\n<p>Fiscal conservatives blocked a bill from being approved by the House Budget Committee last Friday before four changed their votes to present on Sunday so that the House Rules Committee could consider the measure on Wednesday. House Speaker<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/mike-johnson\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"> Mike Johnson<\/a> (R-LA) reportedly offered to fast-track new Medicaid work requirements <a href=\"https:\/\/punchbowl.news\/article\/house\/budget-clears-reconciliation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"from 2029 to 2026\">from 2029 to 2026<\/a> in exchange for their tentative support.<\/p>\n<p>When asked on Sunday, Johnson <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/3415392\/trump-big-beautiful-bill-passes-house-budget-committee\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"wouldn&rsquo;t provide details\">wouldn&rsquo;t provide details<\/a> on the changes made with fiscal hawks when asked about the 2026 date, but indicated there was broad support to push the date up.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s the desire of every Republican, always has been, to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trumps-big-beautiful-bill-revived-in-late-night-house-vote\/\" title=\"...s big beautiful bill revived in late...night ... vote\">make work requirements real<\/a> and actionable as soon as possible,&rdquo; Johnson said. &ldquo;We learned in the process that some of the states needed a longer lag time to add in the implementation of the new policy. So we&rsquo;re going to &hellip; make it happen sooner, as soon as possible. And I think that&rsquo;s a good change in the policy.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Republican leadership aides similarly told reporters Monday that they are looking to move the date up &ldquo;as soon as it is feasible.&rdquo; However, discussions are still ongoing.<\/p>\n<p>At the same time, more centrist Republicans have concerns about the politics surrounding reforming the entitlement program, as fiscal conservatives encourage Johnson to go even further. For example, they are trying to change Federal Medical Assistance Percentages that determine how much the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/analysis-biden-budget-would-cut-gdp-by-1-5-over-three-decades\/\" title=\"Analysis: Biden Budget Would Cut GDP By 1.5% Over Three Decades\">federal government makes<\/a> in Medicaid payments to states.<\/p>\n<p>Simultaneously, some more centrist Republicans hope to increase the cap on the state and local government tax deduction, undermining the fiscal conservatives&rsquo; overriding goals of decreasing the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/deficit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">deficit<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>During her opening remarks, Leavitt told GOP members that &ldquo;it&rsquo;s essential that every Republican in the House and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/senate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Senate<\/a> unites behind President Trump and passes this popular and essential legislative package.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to deliver on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/maga\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Make America Great Again <\/a>agenda responsible for President Trump&rsquo;s landslide victory on Nov. 5,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;The America First policies in this bill are the reason why Republicans currently have the majority in Congress right now.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/3415392\/trump-big-beautiful-bill-passes-house-budget-committee\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"><strong>REPUBLICANS MUSCLE THE &lsquo;BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL&rsquo; OUT OF THE BUDGET COMMITTEE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Regarding Trump&rsquo;s negotiation strategy, Leavitt added that the president &ldquo;was in direct conversation and communication with the speaker of the House&rdquo; last weekend.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s been very involved,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;He always is. He&rsquo;s willing to pick up the phone when he is asked to, so he&rsquo;ll continue to be very engaged in this process with both House members and his friends on the Senate side as well.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><em>Rachel Schilke contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_2125901\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"2125901\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>White House defends Medicaid cuts amid GOP divisions<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2652,"featured_media":2436467,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/karoline-leavitt-medicaid-scaled-1024x683.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[37167,32920,53546,45232,32127],"class_list":["post-2436466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-healthcare-policy","tag-house-republicans","tag-medicaid-cuts","tag-political-division","tag-white-house"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/karoline-leavitt-medicaid-scaled-1024x683.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2436466","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2652"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2436466"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2436466\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2436470,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2436466\/revisions\/2436470"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2436467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2436466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2436466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2436466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}