Trump blesses Medicaid scrutiny to pay for mega-MAGA package
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President Trump opened the door Thursday for Senate Republicans to find cost savings in Medicaid as they hunt for ways to pay for his border, defense and tax priorities, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: Trump has been emphatic that Medicaid benefits won't be "touched," but he endorsed looking for "waste, fraud and abuse" and even imposing new work requirements.
- On Thursday, Trump and some top White House officials met with Republican senators on the Finance Committee, which includes Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and GOP Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.).
Zoom in: Trump indicated to senators he is open to cutting "waste, fraud and abuse" from any mandatory spending — including Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security, multiple senators in the meeting told Axios.
- Social Security can't be dealt with in reconciliation.
- Trump expressed openness to work requirements for Medicaid and discussing ways to reduce the rate of growth of some health care programs which could be counted as potentially hundreds of billions of dollars in savings.
- He was also clear he wants Congress to deal with raising the debt ceiling in the reconciliation package and supports making his 2017 tax cuts permanent by using a "current policy" maneuver to make the cost $0.
"It became clear that [Trump] wanted to be bold," one senator told Axios, requesting anonymity to speak candidly.
What they're saying: "The President wants to make sure that we do eliminate waste, fraud, abuse, and, you know, there are a number of scams going on right now with Medicaid," Barrasso told Axios.
- "There is money laundering being done with regard to Medicaid, and the American taxpayers shouldn't have to pay for that," Barrasso said.
What to watch: The group also discussed an idea of codifying DOGE cuts with a big rescission package, which could be passed with a simple majority in the Senate — rather than needing Democrats to break the filibuster.
- Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) pitched Elon Musk on the idea last week.
Zoom out: Hill leaders are still working to get on the same page to get moving on their biggest legislative priority of the year.
