February 25, 2025

As mentioned previously, House leaders are hoping to pull together enough ‘yes’ votes to move a deeply flawed framework for how House committees must perform their work that would ultimately devastate the Medicaid Program. Right now House Leader Mike Johnson is focused on identifying enough ‘yes’ votes to move the framework (the framework can be viewed as a set of instructions for House committees including the House Energy and Commerce committee), however advocacy in states around the country has so far succeeded n complicating the math (and the votes) required to propel the Trump agenda forward.

While some House Republicans are declaring they will vote ‘no’ on the framework that could include an instruction to the House Energy and Commerce Committee to identify serious cuts to the Medicaid Program (the plan is for $880B over ten years), these commitments are likely to change as Johnson and other key members of the new Administration (including the President) push these same lawmakers to make a different choice.

At the same time, there appear to be 3 House Dems who may/may not be in attendance for the vote, if it should come tonight or later this week, so the math is extremely tight. That’s why our advocacy matters… there are still hearts and minds to change (and keep changed) as the pressure mounts. Please do your part and ask your board members (and anyone else you can think of) to make a call to House R’s in the NYS delegation, urging them to vote ‘no’ on any matter that seeks to use the federal Medicaid Program as the piggy bank to pay for an extension of Trump tax cuts that were first implemented in 2017 but that are expiring at the end of this year.

Map showing what percentage of people in your Congressional district rely on Medicaid

Protect Medicaid 2025 Toolkit with data and resources to take action

I’m adding the call-in instructions from FamiliesUSA, which includes links to other actions to take (in case your call doesn’t go through, etc). Thank you for taking action to protect Medicaid!
Protect Medicaid Call-in Day on Tuesday, February 25 to urge members to vote NO on the House budget resolution.
Call Congress at 866-426-2631 and tell them Medicaid cuts should be off the table.
Inboxes full? Can’t get through? Keep calling to get your voice heard! Don’t have time? Take action in another way listed below!
Please join Families USA and email your members: Medicaid Defense Email Writing Campaign.

Use hashtags #HandsOffMedicaid or #HandsOffOurMedicaid on social media.
Reach out to partners to encourage them to participate.
Helpful resources: Defend Medicaid Day of Action – Families USA.
Politico article, 2/25 at 1:30 pm:
At this moment, as House Speaker Mike Johnson counts the yeas and nays ahead of a planned budget vote later this evening, one thing is clear: The math ain’t mathing, as the kids say.

Republican leadership sought to circle the wagons at a conference meeting this morning. And they did — just not in the direction they had intended.

“They convinced me in there: I’m a ‘no,’” said Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.). “I was a ‘lean no’ until this meeting. Now I’m a ‘no.’” Reps. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.), Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) and Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) also voiced their opposition coming out of the meeting. Said Davidson: “I’m not voting for that.”

“Johnson faces some bleak arithmetic: No Democrats are expected to back the budget plan, and if all members are present and voting, he can lose only one Republican and still approve it,” POLITICO’s Meredith Lee Hill and Nicholas Wu report.

Still, some GOP lawmakers are optimistic.

“If I had to put money down, I think it’s gonna pass,” Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Mo.) told Deseret News’ Cami Mondeaux.
“I think people will embrace it as the right and responsible path,” said Budget Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas), while expressing concern that Elon Musk’s comments on the package (he’s lukewarm at best) will peel away votes, per WSJ’s Olivia Beavers.
As for Johnson, he doesn’t exactly sound confident about the outlook and timing of the budget package. “There may be a vote tonight, there may not be,” he said. “Stay tuned.”

Will President Donald Trump weigh in? Though Trump has been reluctant to fully wade into the intraparty squabble, Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) told NBC News’ Scott Wong, Sahil Kapur and Syedah Asghar that the president may reach out directly to the holdouts: “I think President Trump may have to get involved — with a slim margin, as he should. I think he’ll get involved,” Norman said.

The policy angle: “As G.O.P. Eyes Medicaid Cuts, States Could be Left With Vast Shortfalls,” by NYT’s Noah Weiland and Sarah Kliff