Democrats have accused Republicans of trying to hamper federal health programs with plans to avoid partial government shutdowns.
The bill is a rough extension of the current federal funding level, known as the Continuing Resolution (CR), and is expected to receive a House-wide vote on Tuesday. It will pass the Senate by the end of Friday, March 14th, and must be signed by President Donald Trump.
Trump has called on all Republican lawmakers to support the bill.
But Democrats unleashed a solid campaign against legislation. It's a tough departure from the political tradition that normally sees liberal lawmakers vote by dozens of people to avoid government shutdowns.
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House Democrats, led by minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, are on the left, opposed to House Republican CR. (Getty Images)
Democrat leaders have accused Republicans of particularly trying to hurt Medicare and Medicaid funds with the bill. What the GOP denied.
“The Partisan House Republican Fundraising Bill recklessly cuts healthcare, nutrition aid and $23 billion in veteran benefits. The equally troubling law does nothing to protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, but exposes even more pain throughout this fiscal year.
Leader trio – House Minority Leaders Hakeem Jeffries, Dn.Y., House Minority Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass. and House Democrat Caucus Speaker Pete Aguilar (D-Calif) – sent a letter to lawmakers bashing the CR on Friday before the text was released.
“Hospital Democrats are enthusiastic about bills protecting Social Security, Medicare, Veterans Health and Medicaid, but Republicans have chosen to put them in the chopping block to pay billionaires' tax cuts,” they wrote.
“We can't support measures that rip the benefits of longevity and retirement from everyday Americans as part of the Republican scheme to pay for the massive tax cuts for wealthy donors like Elon Musk. Medicaid is our red line.”
Senior House GOP aide accused House Democrats of “deliberately misleading Americans.”
President Donald Trump supports the bill. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
“Their previous statements are dishonest,” the senior aide told Fox News Digital. “Democrats opposed the bill before even had text.”
Trump has said many times on his side that he doesn't want Congress to touch Medicaid, but he's keeping the door open to cut off “vain, fraud, abuse” repeated by Republican lawmakers.
It is noteworthy that the annual Congressional budget covered by the CR does not touch primarily on compulsory government spending such as Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. These programs must be changed in federal budgets. This is what Republicans are currently working on through the reconciliation process.
However, the law does not address the expected payment cuts that come to doctors who treat Medicare patients who are given some interest groups, such as the American Medical Association (AMA).
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“Practitioners across the country are furious that Congress's proposed spending package is locked in a devastating fifth year in a row, threatening access to care for 66 million Medicare patients,” said AMA Chairman Bruce A. Scott. On the group's website.
The bill could likely win democratic votes from lawmakers in competition districts wary of being blamed for government shutdowns. But Republicans will need to pay primarily itself in their Monday evening's anticipated vote to advance the bill through the House Rules Committee.
If that passes, the bill will need to look at the House-wide procedural vote, known as the “rules vote.”
The final House vote on the bill is expected during Tuesday afternoon.
The 99-page law released over the weekend maintains government spending at the 2024 FY (FY) level, primarily until the beginning of FY 2026 on October 1st.
The bill allocates an additional $8 billion in defense spending to alleviate concerns for the National Security Hawks, but does not protect Congress from spending that yearly allocations to about $13 billion.
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There are also some additional funds to promote immigration and customs enforcement operations.
House GOP leadership aides said that by eliminating some “side deals” that took place during FRA negotiations, a reduction in discretionary non-defense spending would be found. Lawmakers will also not be given the opportunity to request funding a special pet project in a district known as Hermark, another area that Republicans classify as savings.
This allows Republican leaders to argue for a victory that there will be no meaningful increases in government spending by fiscal year 2025.
