Progressives, New Democrats Unite in Call to Speaker Johnson: Hands Off Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid
March 3, 2025
“Such cuts would push countless elderly Americans out of senior homes and deprive essential health and dental care to millions of Americans of modest incomes, taking those cuts to give away trillions of dollars in tax breaks to the wealthiest individuals and large corporations.”
Washington, D.C. — Today, Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Greg Casar (TX-35) and New Democrat Coalition Chair Brad Schneider (IL-10) together led a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson calling on him to reverse course on any legislation that would cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid benefits on behalf of millions of Americans who depend on these programs.
The leaders of the two largest ideological Democratic caucuses were joined by 208 House Democrats, nearly the entire House Democratic Caucus, to oppose Republicans’ proposed cuts to Medicaid, which “would push countless elderly Americans out of senior homes and deprive essential health and dental care to millions of Americans of modest incomes” in order to “give away trillions of dollars in tax breaks to the wealthiest individuals and large corporations.”
“Democrats are uniting to say with one voice: hands off Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid,” said Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Greg Casar (TX-35). “The Congressional Progressive Caucus is proud to join the New Democrat Coalition to fight Republicans’ betrayal of the promises Donald Trump made to working people. With Democrats united, the question becomes: are any three House Republicans willing to change course, or will they all own the devastating consequences of these proposed cuts?”
“Despite their public pledges to safeguard Social Security benefits and health care coverage for well over 100 million Americans, House Republicans have been working behind closed doors to slash these programs and rip away earned benefits from working people, families, children, seniors, and Veterans,” said New Democrat Coalition Chair Brad Schneider (IL-10). “House Democrats won’t stand idly by as Congressional Republicans sacrifice the wellbeing of hardworking people to line the pockets of billionaires like Musk. New Dems are proud to stand alongside our colleagues in the Congressional Progressive Caucus to demand that House Republicans uphold their promise to ensure a dignified retirement and accessible, high quality health care for every American.”
You can read the full letter here and below:
Dear Mr. Speaker:
We write to oppose any attempts to cut access or benefits to the vital programs that Americans rely on, such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. We remind you that in addition to repeating his pledge to not cut Social Security and Medicare, President Trump recently claimed he would “love and cherish” Medicaid, which insures more than 70 million Americans, and stated that “the people won’t be affected.”
Despite the President’s claims, the White House’s so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” is taking drastic actions and making severe threats adversely affecting Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and many other crucially important programs. We all agree that our government should always be working to improve effectiveness and efficiency. But, Elon Musk’s half-baked approach and headstrong rush to irresponsibly cut trillions of dollars from the federal budget—without oversight or full consideration of the impacts—put these lifesaving and hard-earned benefits in danger. Moreover, House Republican budgetary options explicitly propose cutting hundreds of billions of dollars from Medicaid. Such cuts would push countless elderly Americans out of senior homes and deprive essential health and dental care to millions of Americans of modest incomes, taking those cuts to give away trillions of dollars in tax breaks to the wealthiest individuals and large corporations.
We jointly call on you to protect these essential programs and urge you to reverse course on any legislation that deprives Americans of healthcare or the hard-earned retirement benefits they deserve.
