White House Open to Kicking 300,000 People Off Health Care to Fund War

Source: The New Republic · Bias: Left

Summary

Killing people abroad is apparently more important to Republicans than keeping Americans healthy.White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt refused Monday to say whether or not Donald Trump was considering cutting health care access in order to continue funding the Iran War, suggesting that the administration was unaware of the GOP caucus’s plan to do so.“I don’t want to weigh in definitively because I just haven’t heard that being discussed in the West Wing,” Leavitt said during a White House press briefing.Q: There are reports that Republicans are weighing cuts to health care in order to make way for that $200 billion for the Iran war. Is that a trade-off that Trump supports?Leavitt: I don't want to weigh in definitively pic.twitter.com/rcFypch15Y— FactPost (@factpostnews) March 30, 2026Top Republicans have already floated the idea and are reportedly eyeing federal health care cuts in order to offset the Pentagon’s massive price tag on its latest military offensive.House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington has suggested that Congress should revive cost-sharing reductions, which could save the federal government as much as $30 billion. Doing so, however, would drastically increase out-of-pocket premium costs, a possibility that the Congressional Budget Office estimated could cause some 300,000 people to lose their health insurance by 2034. Arrington is selling the scheme as a method of “fraud prevention.”Cuts presented in Arrington’s budget reconciliation bill include programs aimed at assisting low-income families, such as the earned income tax credit, which helps low-income, working parents recoup their tax dollars by claiming their child as a dependent. Arrington claimed the popular program “loses 30 cents on the dollar.”“You’ve got low-income housing tax credits, for example, another sort of welfare program within the tax code that doesn’t prohibit illegals from siphoning money off that and jeopardizing the sustainability of that program,” he said.The cuts are still in discussion, and are likely to face pushback from moderate Republicans, who are already fretting over their reelection odds—and the party’s trilateral grip on Washington—come November.Meanwhile, the cost of the war is ramping up, hurting Americans at home. The White House has sent more troops to Iran, ramping up fears of a ground invasion, and the Pentagon is readying for “weeks of U.S. ground operations” in the region. Oil prices have soared as a result of the month-long conflict, which Congress still has yet to authorize.So far, more than 1,937 people have been killed in Iran, including dozens of political leaders, according to Al Jazeera. At least 13 U.S. soldiers have also lost their lives in the war, and more than 300 have been wounded. Leavitt insisted Monday that the conflict would be resolved in the coming weeks, though military officials have indicated that the war could rage for months.

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White House Open to Kicking 300,000 People Off Health Care to Fund War
The New Republic

White House Open to Kicking 300,000 People Off Health Care to Fund War

Left

Killing people abroad is apparently more important to Republicans than keeping Americans healthy.White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt refused Monday to say whether or not Donald Trump was considering cutting health care access in order to continue funding the Iran War, suggesting that the administration was unaware of the GOP caucus’s plan to do so.“I don’t want to weigh in definitively because I just haven’t heard that being discussed in the West Wing,” Leavitt said during a White House press briefing.Q: There are reports that Republicans are weighing cuts to health care in order to make way for that $200 billion for the Iran war. Is that a trade-off that Trump supports?Leavitt: I don't want to weigh in definitively pic.twitter.com/rcFypch15Y— FactPost (@factpostnews) March 30, 2026Top Republicans have already floated the idea and are reportedly eyeing federal health care cuts in order to offset the Pentagon’s massive price tag on its latest military offensive.House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington has suggested that Congress should revive cost-sharing reductions, which could save the federal government as much as $30 billion. Doing so, however, would drastically increase out-of-pocket premium costs, a possibility that the Congressional Budget Office estimated could cause some 300,000 people to lose their health insurance by 2034. Arrington is selling the scheme as a method of “fraud prevention.”Cuts presented in Arrington’s budget reconciliation bill include programs aimed at assisting low-income families, such as the earned income tax credit, which helps low-income, working parents recoup their tax dollars by claiming their child as a dependent. Arrington claimed the popular program “loses 30 cents on the dollar.”“You’ve got low-income housing tax credits, for example, another sort of welfare program within the tax code that doesn’t prohibit illegals from siphoning money off that and jeopardizing the sustainability of that program,” he said.The cuts are still in discussion, and are likely to face pushback from moderate Republicans, who are already fretting over their reelection odds—and the party’s trilateral grip on Washington—come November.Meanwhile, the cost of the war is ramping up, hurting Americans at home. The White House has sent more troops to Iran, ramping up fears of a ground invasion, and the Pentagon is readying for “weeks of U.S. ground operations” in the region. Oil prices have soared as a result of the month-long conflict, which Congress still has yet to authorize.So far, more than 1,937 people have been killed in Iran, including dozens of political leaders, according to Al Jazeera. At least 13 U.S. soldiers have also lost their lives in the war, and more than 300 have been wounded. Leavitt insisted Monday that the conflict would be resolved in the coming weeks, though military officials have indicated that the war could rage for months.

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