MID-MICHIGAN (WNEM)

– It’s been dubbed President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” but one local congresswoman contends many of her constituents would not agree as the legislation awaits its fate in the Senate.

U.S. Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet said she fears its passage wouldn’t just lead to hungry children but also, potentially, life-threatening health crises.

McDonald Rivet said she’s pushing senators to make sure Medicaid is made whole in their version before it returns to the House.

“I was a solid no on this budget, and I really want to tell you why,” she said.

She discussed her no vote on Trump’s federal budget proposal. It’s known as “one big, beautiful bill.” The legislation passed the House in May. Now, lawmakers in the Senate are pondering its fate. McDonald Rivet said the proposal in its current form cuts $900 billion from Medicaid.

“This is health insurance that’s for people who are financially struggling. It provides insurance for when moms are giving birth. It’s end of life care for our seniors. It’s mental health services in our schools,” she said.

It would also cut $300 billion from the SNAP food assistance program.

“That is something that a lot of our kids and families rely on,” she said.

McDonald Rivet also said the bill will increase the federal deficit by almost $5 trillion.

The Trump administration paints a different picture.

According to the White House website, “This bill doesn’t increase the deficit or hurt the debt. In fact, it lowers it by $1.4 trillion.”

And regarding Medicaid, the White House said that “this bill will preserve and protect the programs, the social safety net, but it will make it much more common sense.”

“There’s a few things in there, tax breaks for people like you and me that I think are important. The problem is, is that most of the tax breaks go to the uber wealthy. And the way that that was paid for was by cutting Medicaid, SNAP, and other really critical programs,” McDonald Rivet said.

McDonald Rivet is holding out hope that the Senate will balk on these cuts.

“The Senate now needs to pick up that fight. We simply cannot cut health insurance and health care for people at a time when they’re really struggling already to pay for food, and gas, and childcare. Then all of a sudden, we’re ripping health care away from them? It’s just simply unacceptable,” she said.

The Senate hopes to wrap up its version of Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill” by the Fourth of July holiday.

According to the Non-Partisan Congressional Budget Office, it estimates 8.6 million people would lose health care coverage and 3 million fewer people a month would have SNAP food stamps benefits with the proposed changes.


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