Trump’s Fantasy Joint Address to Congress

Dear Neighbor,

Not even a week after every House Republican voted to slash Medicaid and impose devastating health care cuts, Donald Trump tried to sell the nation a fantasy at his Joint Address to Congress. Trump spread misinformation about everything from transgender mice to 360-year-old social security recipients. Trump also tried to sell the illusion of “savings” from his Department of Government Efficiency scam. But the numbers are a fraud—phony accounting tricks to justify illegal mass layoffs and agency shutdowns. Thousands of federal workers have already been fired, gutting everything from clinical trials to disaster relief services and putting lives at risk.

Trump spreads these lies to distract the American people from the fact that he and the Republican party would rather funnel money to their billionaire buddies than protect working families. I attended the Joint Session to push back against Trump and hold him accountable. When he gaslights the country, I want the public to know: the facts are on our side. Democrats won’t let him get away with misleading the American people.

My Guest for Trump’s Address at the Joint Session of Congress

My guest for Trump’s speech was Lauren Zalepka, a longtime disability advocate and past president of The Arc of Monmouth and incoming Board President for The Arc of New Jersey. She has spent years fighting to protect Medicaid, the single largest source of funding for services that allow individuals with disabilities to live independently. She knows exactly what’s at stake if Republicans move forward with their plans to cut health care for millions of Americans. Her daughter Dani relies on Medicaid for essential services and will undoubtedly be abandoned by the government if Trump and Republicans get their way.

Lauren has dedicated her life to fighting for her daughter and individuals with disabilities – not just as a leader at The Arc of Monmouth, but as a mother who knows exactly how devastating these cuts would be. She joined me at Trump’s Joint Address to send a clear message: we will not let Republicans put Medicaid on the chopping block without a fight.

Protecting Seniors

I was at the Long Branch Senior Center last week to sound the alarm on Republican plans to gut Medicaid by at least $880 billion – a move that could force seniors out of nursing homes, shut down long-term care facilities, and pile even more strain onto New Jersey hospitals already struggling to stay afloat. I was joined by health care workers from 1199 SEIU, workers from the Visiting Nurses Associations, and Alzheimer’s advocates to warn New Jersey’s seniors that Republicans’ proposed cuts – designed to bankroll tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations – would be devastating for our state where Medicaid covers over 61% seniors in nursing homes.

These Republican cuts to Medicaid are nothing short of cruel. They would rip away nursing home care for seniors, eliminate home care options for people who just want to age with dignity, and drive hospitals deeper into financial distress. And why? So billionaires can get yet another tax break.

The Math Does Not Add Up

This week, I asked the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) a simple question: Where are Republicans going to find the $880 billion dollars that they instructed my Energy and Commerce Committee to cut?

Republicans claim that they are not going to cut Medicare or Medicaid, but the math simply does not add up. CBO confirmed we’ve been saying all along: the only way Republicans can cut at least $880 billion within the Energy and Commerce Committee’s jurisdiction is by making deep, harmful cuts to Americans’ health care. Republicans know their spin is a lie, and the truth is they have no problem taking health care away from millions of Americans so that the rich can get richer and pay less in taxes than they already do

The budget, recently passed by House Republicans with the full support of Donald Trump, would result in the largest Medicaid cuts in American history. States would face severe funding shortfalls. Millions of people would lose coverage entirely, while many who remain covered would see reduced benefits and fewer available providers. Seniors, children, people with disabilities, and working families would bear the brunt of these devastating cuts.

Democrats will do everything we can to stop this reckless plan before it’s too late.