Connecticut Democrats — and even some GOP members across the U.S. — are warning that Medicaid, nutrition benefits and other social programs could be on the chopping block after House Republicans passed a budget resolution that calls for spending cuts to offset the implementation of President Donald Trump’s agenda.
After a dramatic vote that seemed doomed, congressional Republicans passed the resolution Tuesday night, with the one defection they could lose on their side and no Democratic support, including opposition from Connecticut’s delegation.
The plan paves the way for a wide-ranging bill of $4.5 trillion to extend expiring tax cuts over 10 years as well as funding for border security, defense and energy policy.
The resolution also calls for at least $1.5 trillion in spending cuts, though it does not mention specific programs. But because it designates certain committees to reduce the deficit by specific amounts, social programs that help low-income families are most at risk, given how much those committees spend on them.
Democrats argue that the majority of the tax cuts benefiting the ultra-wealthy and big corporations would come at the expense of working families who rely on Medicaid and receive benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps.
“So who is it bearing the brunt of these cuts? Seniors, low-income families, children and people with disabilities,” U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3rd District, said. “Those struggling the most with high health care costs are the first ones left behind. And Republicans will come for SNAP next, threatening 40 million Americans who are just trying to put food on the table.”
The resolution’s passage will set in motion negotiations with Senate Republicans, since they passed their own version last week that is much narrower. The upper chamber seeks to tackle border enforcement and energy policy and to separately pass expiring tax cuts in a later package. Connecticut’s senators Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy voted against it last week, with Blumenthal offering an amendment to protect benefits for veterans offered under the PACT Act, which failed.
But Trump prefers the House’s budget resolution, which is the first step in what is known as reconciliation. The tedious budgetary process allows the party to pass legislation with a simple majority in the Senate without needing to first clear the 60-vote threshold to overcome a filibuster. Both parties have more recently relied on it when they control both chambers of Congress. Democrats used reconciliation in 2021 and 2022 to pass pandemic aid and other party priorities.
Trump wants one major bill that would renew his 2017 tax cuts that largely expire by the end of the year, and the Senate budget resolution has been characterized as a backup plan if the two chambers cannot find agreement.
As things stand in the House plan, the budget resolution instructs deficit reductions from half a dozen committees, with the biggest cuts from three between fiscal years 2025 and 2034: $880 billion from the Energy and Commerce Committee, $330 billion from the Education and Workforce Committee, and $230 billion from the Agriculture Committee.
Ahead of Tuesday’s vote, some House Republicans expressed skepticism over proposed cuts, acknowledging that some would need to come from Medicaid in order to hit the target of $880 billion in cuts from the House Energy and Commerce Committee. That committee has some of the broadest jurisdiction, including Medicaid and Medicare.
But every Republican, except for U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, ultimately voted for the budget blueprint. Massie was a firm no vote because it would increase the deficit and not make enough spending cuts.
“Look, everybody needs to understand that the resolution is merely the starting point for the process,” House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana said when asked about GOP concerns on Medicaid. “So there’s nothing specific about Medicaid in the resolution. The legislation comes later, so this is the important first start.”
“We have a lot of hard work ahead of us. We are going to deliver the America first agenda,” Johnson said following Tuesday’s vote. “We’re going to deliver all of it, not just parts of it, and this is the first step in that process.”
But based on the spending that the Energy and Commerce Committee handles, Medicaid would likely need to be part of that equation, according to a New York Times analysis. Republicans and Trump have vowed not to touch Medicare — as well as Social Security — when looking for savings. More recently, the president included Medicaid in that category “unless we can find some abuse and waste.” But cuts to either or both Medicaid and Medicare would need to be considered to reach at least $880 billion in deficit reduction.
About 800,000 residents in Connecticut are on Medicaid, which provides health coverage for low-income individuals and families and people with disabilities, as well as thousands more who get coverage under the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Overall, about 72 million Americans received coverage under Medicaid as of 2024.
And there are nearly 400,000 SNAP beneficiaries in Connecticut, with more than half who are in families with children and 44% who are in families with a member who is either an older adult or someone who is disabled.
And with cuts that the Education and Workforce Committee will need to make, higher education and Head Start programs could also be at risk. About 5,600 children in Connecticut are enrolled in a federally funded early learning and education program for low-income families with infants and kids under age 5.
“The quick math on the House budget shows a stark equation: the cost of extending tax cuts for households with incomes in the top 1% — $1.1 trillion through 2034 — equals roughly the same amount as the proposed potential cuts for health coverage under Medicaid and food assistance under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP),” Sharon Parrott, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities president, said in a statement.
Parrott said the potential changes could shift the responsibility onto states and localities to make up the difference and cover all or most of the federal funding cuts, something she argues would be tough for them to do and would lead to losses in health care and food assistance.
State Sen. Matt Lesser, D-Middletown, raised a similar fear that cuts to Medicaid would be a financial burden for Connecticut and its finances.
“In addition to hurting Connecticut’s families, the resolution will wreak absolute havoc on Connecticut’s budget and finances. Medicaid is a $10 billion annual partnership between the state and federal government,” Lesser said. “And if Elon Musk and Donald Trump don’t keep their part of the bargain, it will absolutely devastate our state’s finances and the finances of nearly every health care provider and nonprofit in the state.”
In his eastern Connecticut district, U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, said that about 168,000 people are on Medicaid, with about one third who are under the age of 19 and about 20% who are over the age of 65. In a statement, he said he could not support “a pro-billionaire, anti-worker budget” that increases the federal deficit.
And in DeLauro’s New Haven-based district, nearly 229,000 people are on Medicaid. She said the health program covered 3,000 births last year that included prenatal, delivery and postpartum care.
“This budget proposal is irresponsible and antithetical to Connecticut values. Coupled with stubborn inflation and impending excessive tariffs, the House budget blueprint takes us down a path of increased family economic insecurity and child poverty as well as increased costs for household basics and debt — all in service of tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy and large corporate interests,” Emily Byrne, executive director of Connecticut Voices for Children, said in a statement.
While the exact cuts to Medicaid and other programs are unknown until Republicans draft the language of the bill, Democrats are putting a spotlight on it and plan to make it a large part of their messaging as negotiations shake out over the coming months.
“My Republican colleagues who support these cuts might do well to remember that we serve the American people, not Trump’s cadre of billionaires and fanboys,” said U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, D-4th District. “I wish them luck, in the off chance that they ever head home and engage with fears and frustrations of their actual constituents.”