Dems run ads against GOP lawmakers over Medicaid cut proposals

A House Democratic campaign organization launched a television advertising blitz Monday hitting House Republicans over deep massive Medicaid cuts dollars President Donald Trump and his party are considering.

The spots, which highlight the potential negative impact of up to $880 billion in Medicaid cuts on children and other vulnerable populations, come from the House Majority Forward political action committee, which is aligned with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), and are running in 23 swing districts in 13 states.

Related: House sets up potential Medicaid cuts with budget bill passage

Democrats have seized on the GOP plan to pair an extension of the tax cuts Trump enacted in 2017 with at least $1.5 trillion in spending reductions over 10 years. The bulk of that is poised to come from Medicaid under the budget resolution the House adopted on a party-line vote last Tuesday.

The ad buy is a strong sign that Democrats see political advantage in GOP attempts to slash healthcare programs, which sparked backlash during Trump's first term when Republicans tried and failed to repeal the Affordable Care Act of 2010.

The House budget resolution, which provides instructions and fiscal targets to legislative committees, passed by just two votes. Every Democrat voted no and all Republicans voted yes except Rep. Thomas Massie (Ky.), who favors deeper cuts to federal spending.

The Democratic ads characterize each of the 23 GOP lawmakers as the "deciding vote to set up cuts threatening healthcare for nearly 80 million Americans." The spots also state that Republicans are “threatening healthcare for 37 million kids and kicking seniors out of nursing homes. Just to make billionaires like Elon Musk even richer." The House Majority Forward PAC did not specify how long the ads will run.

The White House and congressional Republican leaders insist that their final plan will not harm Medicaid. "Everybody is committed to preserving Medicaid benefits for those who desperately need it, who deserve it and qualify for it," House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said following passage of the budget resolution.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over Medicaid, Medicare and other health programs, is responsible for proposing $880 billion in spending cuts. Trump has pledged not to cut Medicare, leaving Medicaid as the most likely source of dollars to offset the cost of renewing the tax cuts, which mainly benefit corporations and wealthy households.

Given the GOP's slim majorities in the House and Senate, and the aggressive posture Democrats are taking against the tax and spending cuts legislation, reductions in Medicaid spending on that scale are highly uncertain. Congress has much to do before Trump has a bill to sign.

The Senate has yet to approve its own budget resolution, which will have to be merged with the House version. Then the committees that write bills, chiefly the House Energy and Commerce Committee and Senate Finance Committee when it comes to healthcare, need to assemble the actual legislation.

Only then can the two chambers debate and vote on the measure, which Republicans are advancing under an expedited process known as budget reconciliation that does not allow Senate Democrats to block it with filibusters.

The National Republican Congressional Committee, which supports GOP House candidates, rejected the premise of the House Majority Forward PAC ads.

“Democrats are running the same playbook of resorting to shameless fearmongering and outright lies because they’re trying to hide the fact that they just voted to raise taxes on hardworking Americans. This is a disgusting, pathetic attempt to distract voters from their failures, and they know it,” the National Republican Congressional Committee said in a statement.

The ads are running in House districts represented by these Republicans:

Alaska: Rep. Nick Begich

Arizona: Reps. Juan Ciscomani and David Schweikert

California: Reps. Ken Calvert, Kevin Kiley, Young Kim and David Valadao

Colorado: Rep. Gabe Evans

Iowa: Reps. Dr. Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Zach Nunn

Michigan: Reps. Tom Barrett and John James

Nebraska: Rep. Don Bacon

New Jersey: Rep. Tom Kean Jr.

New York: Rep. Mike Lawler

Pennsylvania: Reps. Rob Bresnahan, Ryan Mackenzie and Scott Perry

Texas: Rep. Monica De La Cruz

Virginia: Reps. Jen Kiggans and Rob Wittman

Wisconsin: Reps. Bryan Steil and Derrick Van Orden