Chairman Aguilar: Trump's lies are going to cost people their jobs and their livelihoods
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar and Vice Chair Ted Lieu were joined by Democratic Policy and Communications Committee (DPCC) Chair Debbie Dingell and Co-Chair Lori Trahan for a press conference on Republicans running scared because their plan to cut Medicaid and reward their billionaire donors with massive tax giveaways is politically toxic.
CHAIRMAN AGUILAR: Good morning. So grateful to be joined today by DPCC Chair Debbie Dingell and Co-Chair Lori Trahan, and of course, Vice Chair Ted Lieu. Both of those members are on the Energy and Commerce Committee. As we all know, House Republicans are running scared this week because they plan to take away health care for millions of Americans while rewarding billionaires with tax giveaways, and these Members will speak specifically to that.
The most endangered Members on the other side of the aisle have already voted to cut Medicaid by $880 billion and Speaker Johnson is scrambling now to give them cover. And his most extreme Members—by the way, those are the ones that he owes having the gavel to—are going to revolt if Medicaid cuts aren’t as harmful to working families as possible. All of this is taking place against the backdrop of an economy that is in a free fall. We're heading toward a recession, a supply chain crisis that will result in more price hikes and all of this is because of Donald Trump's policies. He lied to the American people when he said he'd lower costs on day one. And he lied to them over the weekend when he said that he won't cut Medicaid. Trump's lies are going to cost people their jobs, their livelihoods, potentially their homes—and he could care less, because his billionaire friends and family get richer.
House Republicans should use this time, this free week that they have, to vote on policy that matters for everyday Americans. But instead, they should be talking about turning off tariffs that are reckless and dangerous. But instead, we're talking about Marjorie Taylor Greene's bill to rename the Gulf of Mexico—a slap in the face to hardworking Americans who want their leaders to bring down the cost of living. The costs that they face each and every day in childcare, in healthcare, in gas, groceries, rent. Those are things that the American public cares about, and those are the things that House Republicans are ignoring each and every day.
With that, I’ll turn it over to Vice Chair Ted Lieu.
VICE CHAIR LIEU: Thank you, Chairman Aguilar. Honored to be here with DPCC Chair Dingell and Co-Chair Trahan. You may have seen recent reports showing that 19 billion passwords were hacked and put online. So my public service announcement for today is: change your password. Unless you’re Pete Hegseth, because you have no concept of operational security. Pete Hegseth texted advanced information on combat operations to random people more than once on a Signal application. And we know from recent reporting that the Signal app that the Trump Administration was using was a modified version done by TeleMessage. We know that at least Mike Waltz was using that. Maybe that's one reason he was fired by Donald Trump. I urge reporters to ask Pete Hegseth if he also was using the modified Signal application that was hacked.
Now, I'd like to talk about Medicaid. So we know that Republicans voted already through the Budget Resolution to cut $880 billion of Medicaid. Now, they're talking about imposing red tape requirements. I want you to understand what that means. That means every Medicaid recipient would have to fill out immense amounts of paperwork. They tried to do this in Alabama and Georgia and ended up achieving no cost savings. And Medicaid is so important to America, two-thirds of patients in nursing homes are funded through Medicaid. In addition, people get lifesaving health care through Medicaid. And what happens if people don't get healthier through Medicaid? Well, guess what, they're still going to get healthier by walking into the emergency room and getting treated that way, which is even more expensive. If you make cuts to Medicaid, it's going to close down hospitals, including rural hospitals, so we urge Republicans to vote no on the dramatic Medicaid cuts. And now it's my great honor to introduce DPCC Chair Debbie Dingell, we came in the freshman class together. She's done a fantastic job as Chair of the DPCC, and I look forward to her remarks.
DPCC CHAIR DINGELL: Thank you, Ted, and Pete was in our class too. It was a great class. I want to thank Pete and Ted for bringing us together this morning. And as Pete said at the beginning, in addition to my role as DPCC chair, I'm also a member of the Energy and Commerce committee, which is ground zero for the Medicaid cuts that you’re seeing the Republicans talk about. I want to be really clear with you, I've spent a lot of time at home and in a lot of town hall meetings and a lot of rallies and in grocery stores and in Union Halls. Donald Trump's economic policies are making life harder for everyday Americans. Costs are increasing, and every family is feeling the squeeze. And House Republicans are making things worse. Their budget cuts Medicaid by nearly $900 billion. It’s the largest Medicaid cut in history. The impact would be devastating in every corner of this country. And I know, believe me, that Democrats and Republicans are hearing about these cuts from constituents who are terrified about what it means for them. People like Katie, in my district, whose son, Nathan, is six years old. Nathan was born premature and has required more than 15 procedures on his airway to help him breathe. As she told me, some of those procedures have cost $20,000 or more, and without Medicaid, there's no way that Katie and her family would be able to meet Nathan's complex medical needs. When I was at Michigan. Just before he visited a doctor, a woman started crying in the elevator with her child in a wheelchair, and said, “What will I do if I can't bring my child here? If they cut me?” 75 percent of the children at Children's Hospital in Detroit are on Medicaid, and seniors. And a senior said to me, “Are they going to kick my husband out on the street from a nursing home?” That's the stories that people are telling us.
Medicaid is a lifeline. It keeps children healthy, it helps parents work, and it cares for seniors in nursing homes. The American people cannot afford Medicaid cuts, especially as the economy is being crashed around them by President Trump. House Democrats are fighting to stop this Republican budget and save Medicaid. We have been active across the country, with hundreds of local events raising the human stories, having people understand these aren't numbers, it's human lives. And more importantly, we're raising more stories in every community, so people know who it's going to be impacting. And that's what we're going to continue to do until this Republican budget is defeated. So with that, I'm going to yield to my DPCC Co-Chair, and fellow Energy and Commerce Committee member, Lori Trahan.
DPCC CO-CHAIR TRAHAN: Thank you, Chair Dingell, and thank you to Chair Aguilar and Vice Chair Lieu for hosting us this morning. Republicans in Congress are locked in a debate this week about everything that you need to know of their priorities. They're trying to decide how to pay for massive tax breaks for their billionaire donors, and they've narrowed it down to two options: Kick millions of Americans off of their health care by slashing Medicaid or take food off the table for working families by gutting nutritional assistance.
And let's be honest, Donald Trump doesn't care which one they choose, as long as they send what he calls a big, beautiful bill to the White House. But there's nothing beautiful about ripping health care away from millions of Americans. Medicaid is a lifeline. It's prenatal care for moms. It's nursing home care for seniors. It's the support for kids with disabilities that they need to thrive in school. Republicans aren't doing this to fix the economy or to reduce the deficit or to get rid of fraud, waste and abuse. They're doing it so Elon Musk can buy another private jet. Meanwhile, families are already making impossible choices every day. Do I pay for medicine or do I buy groceries? Do I take my child to the doctor or do I pay my utility bills? And now Republicans want to make those choices even harder.
House Democrats have a message for our colleagues across the aisle: If you're going to gut Medicaid so your billionaire buddies can get a tax cut that's bigger than what most teachers make in their lifetimes, we're going to make it as painful as possible. We're going to fight back and we're going to go to your districts and explain what you're doing, and we're going to help your constituents vote you out next November. That's our focus. That's our fight, and that's our promise. Thank you.
Video of the full press conference and Q&A can be viewed here.
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