A budget reconciliation package that includes large cuts to Medicaid won’t have the support of Rep. Young Kim and at least 11 other House Republicans.
The Republican dozen, in a letter to House leadership this week, said they support reforms to Medicaid but will not back any cuts to coverage for vulnerable populations or that would threaten hospitals, nursing homes and safety-net providers.
“We cannot and will not support a final reconciliation bill that includes any reduction in Medicaid coverage for vulnerable populations,” they said.
The letter — drawing a red line for a core group of Republicans, many of whom represent battleground districts — could prove to be a roadblock for House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, and President Donald Trump during the budget process. Republicans only have a thin majority over Democrats and can’t afford to lose too many votes.
That means leadership has to strike a balance with a budget bill that will include enough spending cuts to appease members who tack more to the right, while not losing the support of others, like these 12, who note their constituents depend on these services.
“Communities like ours won us the majority, and we have a responsibility to deliver on the promises we made,” the dozen Republicans said in their letter addressed to Johnson, Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana, Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota, and Rep. Brett Guthrie of Kentucky, who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
Kim — who represents communities in Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties — has been the target of various protests in her district of late, where demonstrators have expressed concern about potential cuts to Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security.
She voted for the six-month stopgap funding bill to avert a government shutdown in March, a bill that garnered nearly 100% support from Republicans then. Kim said then, too, that she does not support any effort that does not protect Medicaid but argued that a government shutdown would put Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security “in limbo.”
On Wednesday, she reiterated her desire to protect those services.
“A budget resolution that does not protect vital Medicaid services for the most vulnerable citizens in my community will not receive my vote,” Kim said. “I’ve made this clear to my constituents and to House leadership and will continue to do so.”
Kim has also made lifting the cap on state and local tax deducations (commonly referred to as SALT) a priority during the budget process, even going so far as to tell Trump directly in January that she and other Republicans from high-tax states need the president “to publicly state that you are committed to fixing this issue.”
A spokesperson for the three-term congresswoman confirmed that SALT is still “something she’s watching.”
A 2017 Republican-led tax law capped SALT deductions at just $10,000, meaning many taxpayers from high-tax states — California, New York, New Jersey — have had to pay significantly more.
In their letter this week about Medicaid, the dozen Republicans said they do support “targeted reforms to improve program integrity, reduce improper payments and modernize delivery systems to fix flaws in the program that divert resources away from children, seniors, individuals with disabilities and pregnant women — those who the program was intended to help.”
However, they also said: “Balancing the federal budget must not come at the expense of those who depend on these benefits for their health and economic security.”
When asked for a response to the letter, a spokesperson for Johnson emailed the following statement from the speaker: “Through budget reconciliation, House Republicans will strengthen, sustain and secure Medicaid so we can preserve it for the vulnerable American populations it was designed to serve. Unlike our Democrat colleagues, we are committed to making commonsense reforms and rooting out waste, fraud and abuse to make Medicaid work more efficiently and effectively.”
A spokesperson for Guthrie told Axios that the committee’s Republicans “intend to strengthen, secure and sustain Medicaid for generations to come.”
The letter, first reported by Punchbowl News, was also signed by Reps. David Valadao of California’s 22 Congressional District, Don Bacon of Nebraska, Rob Bresnahan of Pennsylvania, Juan Ciscomani of Arizona, Andrew Garbarino of New York, Jeff Hurd of Colorado, Jen Kiggans of Virginia, Nick LaLota of New York, Nicole Malliotakis of New York, Jefferson Van Drew of New Jersey and Robert Wittman of Virginia.
Trump has said “we’re not going to touch it” when asked if he supports cuts to Medicaid but does want to root out any “fraud.”
Kim represents California’s 40th Congressional District, which has already drawn a handful of 2026 Democratic challengers and has been labeled a “district in play” for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for next year’s elections. She won reelection in November with 55.3% of the vote over Democrat Joe Kerr.
As of Feb. 10 — the latest report from California’s secretary of state — registered Republicans account for 38.48% of voters in the district, Democrats 33.09% and no party preference 22.14%.
