My representative in Congress, Rep. Rob Bresnahan (R, PA-08), had promised not to vote for cuts to Medicaid, and was quoted saying, “If a bill is put in front of me that guts the benefits my neighbors rely on, I will not vote for it.” And yet, he voted for the bill that mathematically would have to cut Medicaid.
If your representative voted against this bill it’s a good idea to send them a message of approval on that no vote. (All Democrats in the House voted no, and one Republican – Massie in Kentucky.)
There is a story about how Donald Trump personally called representatives to threaten them to vote for this bill.
The New Republic – Edith Olmsted / February 27, 2025 How Trump Bullied MAGA Rep. Into Changing Her Vote on Budget Bill Representative Victoria Spartz originally said she would vote against the reconciliation bill. When asked by CNN’s Manu Raju whether she would bend to pressure from her colleagues, Spartz replied, “You don’t know me well enough.… You should know better than that by now. “We cannot be weak, and we have to do the right thing for the people,” she said. But that was before Spartz took a furious phone call from the president, whose screaming could be heard by the congresswoman’s colleagues across the Republican cloakroom, according to Puck. Trump shouted that Spartz was a fake Republican set on undermining his agenda, and loudly reminded Spartz that he was the president, Puck reported. As a freshly scolded Spartz walked out of the cloakroom, Mike Johnson patted her on the back. “You know what you have to do,” the House speaker said. Spartz flipped, telling reporters later that she’d had a “great conversation” with Trump, who was “on board to get some great things done on health care.” “I trust his word,” she told reporters. It seems like Spartz doesn’t know Trump well enough and should know better than that by now. (emphasis added)
I’m convinced that the plan was always to make these cuts, and then Trump blames Congress and Elon Musk, and says it was nothing to do with him – even though he’s the president – but some people will probably believe it and rationalize it. Because he claimed he wouldn’t cut these programs, and he claimed he wasn’t following Project 2025, but all of this is in Project 2025. So I think it’s important for people to share this story with people directly, asking people if they’ve heard about Trump bullying reps into voting
The New Republic – Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling / February 28, 2025 Republicans Are Freaking Out About Trump’s Budget After Voting for It – Republicans are suddenly not so pleased with their reconciliation bill win. “Last night’s vote was just a procedural step to start federal budget negotiations and does NOT change any current laws,” Republican Representative Rob Bresnahan said in a statement Wednesday.
I sent another letter saying that we need to watch every procedural step he takes, and that you can’t cut halfway through somebody’s rope and then say it was fine because they’re still dangling because the rope hasn’t frayed through yet.