In February, the House of Representatives narrowly passed a Republican budget resolution, delivering a key victory for Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and President Donald Trump — but at what cost?
The 217-215 vote advanced a plan that calls for $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion in spending cuts over the next decade while extending and expanding the first Trump tax cuts to the tune of $4 trillion to $4.5 trillion.
The contrast is stark: sweeping reductions in government programs that help middle- and low-income families, with Medicaid, SNAP, Pell Grants, and Social Security on the chopping block, to finance permanent tax breaks that disproportionately benefit corporations and high-income earners.
The GOP is betting that voters will reward them for cutting taxes and trimming government spending. But because economic insecurity remains high and healthcare costs continue to rise, slashing safety nets like Medicaid could prove politically toxic — especially among working-class and elderly voters in red states who rely on these programs.
THE NUMBERS paint a dismal picture. The GOP budget proposes a 20% reduction in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which over 42 million Americans depend on to combat starvation.
The proposed Medicaid cuts are even more severe. Over 90 million Americans, including 37.6 million children, are enrolled in Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
Slashing these funds would leave millions of Americans with reduced access to healthcare. Representative Brittany Pettersen, D-Colo., returned to the House floor for her first vote since giving birth, bringing her newborn along as a statement against the proposal. “These cuts will devastate families,” she warned.
Under attack is not just healthcare and nutrition programs. The GOP also aims to scale back Pell Grants, a vital program that helps low-income students afford college.
Reducing these grants will disproportionately affect students who rely on them to break the cycle of poverty and access higher education.
Meanwhile, Social Security changes in the House proposal would force many Americans to work longer for less, impacting approximately 257 million people, or three in four Americans.
WHY TARGET these programs? The answer lies in the $4 trillion to $4.5 trillion in tax cuts that the budget aims to retain and extend.
These cuts overwhelmingly benefit corporations and high-income households, widening the economic divide.
Even some Republicans have voiced concerns. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., the lone GOP defector in the House vote, bluntly stated that the plan “will increase budget deficits” because the tax breaks and new spending exceed the proposed cuts by trillions.
Republican leaders counter that their tax plan will generate enough economic growth to offset the deficit.
However, this trickle-down promise has repeatedly failed in the past, most notably with the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which ballooned the deficit while delivering limited economic benefits to middle- and lower-income Americans.
