House Speaker Responds to Caller Accusation

On Thursday, House Speaker Mike Johnson addressed a caller from C-SPAN who claimed he was being dishonest about illegal immigrants receiving Medicaid benefits.

In a statement from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) earlier this year, it was reported that around 1.4 million individuals excluded from a reconciliation bill signed by former President Donald Trump would not meet the Medicaid eligibility requirements due to their immigration status, but they could qualify for state-funded programs. Johnson referenced these CBO figures to back up his argument during the Washington Journal.

During the call, the listener challenged Johnson, saying, “How can you sit here and lie about this, especially when introducing a bill for subsidies?”

In response, Johnson affirmed, “I’m not lying. I’m telling the truth. You can check all the documents. Look at the CBO. They stated that at least 1.4 million illegal immigrants are draining money from Medicaid. That’s why we enacted those reforms on July 4.” He also mentioned the Democratic counter-offer to the continuing resolution by Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, urging the caller to review a specific section of that document.

Johnson seemed to suggest support for the Democratic proposal, which can be found on his official website.

He encouraged the caller to verify the information himself, saying, “Don’t just take my word for it. Let’s look at what they were trying to achieve.”

The measures Johnson referred to aim to revoke certain aspects of July’s reconciliation bill related to Medicare and to address concerns regarding waste, fraud, and abuse in the system, specifically regarding eligibility for “alien Medicaid.”

On September 30, the Senate was unable to pass a short-term funding bill, lacking sufficient votes to overcome a Democratic filibuster. Republicans have accused Democrats of attempting to fund health care for undocumented immigrants at the cost of a government shutdown, an assertion contested by government agencies, which argue the shutdown was necessary to manage health care expenses.

Nevertheless, numerous Medicare recipients continue to benefit from telehealth and home care services. Following a rejected Democratic proposal, the continuing resolution was approved late on October 1.