Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
President Trump threw another curveball into the House's budget plans Tuesday night, saying on Fox News that Medicaid is not going to be "touched."
Why it matters: It is essentially impossible for House Republicans to hit the savings targets they've laid out without making major changes to the safety net program.
What they're saying: "Medicare, Medicaid, none of that stuff is going to be touched," Trump told Sean Hannity during an appearance with Elon Musk.
- "If there are illegal migrants in the system, we're going to get them out of the system and all of that, fraud, but it's not going to be touched," he added.
That's actually a stronger sentiment than Trump's previous Medicaid comments, which left an opening to overhaul Medicaid for "abuse or waste."
Yes, but: It's far from clear that Trump will stick to his position as the House reconciliation process proceeds.
- In fact, Trump sent a conflicting signal Wednesday morning when he endorsed the House budget, which calls for as much as $2 trillion in mandatory spending cuts.
- The budget calls for $880 billion in savings from the Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees Medicaid, and it is not clear how the panel could hit that number without major policy shifts like work requirements.
- Still, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, who has expressed concerns with Medicaid cuts, praised Trump's Medicaid comments on X. "Thank you President Trump for recognizing the importance of these programs," she wrote.
