Carbajal Condemns House Republican Passage of Extreme Budget Bill

Instead of helping middle class families, the GOP bill rips away health care, takes food off kids’ plates, and drives up the cost of everyday essentials — all to hand massive tax breaks to billionaires.

Washington, May 22, 2025

U.S. Representative Salud Carbajal (D-CA-24) released the statement below following the passage of the Republican reconciliation bill on the House floor. The bill contains extreme and unprecedented cuts to Medicaid and food assistance. The bill now heads to the U.S. Senate for consideration.

“Today, House Republicans passed their heartless bill to rip away health care and food assistance from millions of Americans—working families, seniors, children, and veterans—to give big tax breaks to billionaires,” said Rep. Carbajal. “Despite all their talk about fiscal responsibility, this bill will add trillions to our national debt. That’s not responsible, that’s reckless. As the bill heads to the Senate, Democrats will continue to stand up for the American people because our values are clear: we protect health care, support working families, and champion a fair and just America.”

In California’s 24th Congressional District, 119,000 residents benefit from food assistance through SNAP. 900 residents who participated in SNAP in the past year are veterans. Over 200,000 people on Medicaid (also known in California as Medi-Cal) are at risk of losing their health care under Republican budget plans. This includes close to 100,000 children under the age of 19 and 24,000 seniors over 65 in CA-24.

While Republican leaders claim their bill won’t cut Medicaid benefits, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office confirmed that the Republican budget would result in the largest Medicaid cuts in U.S. history (see fact sheet here). The Republican proposal demands slashing at least $880 billion from programs under the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which is impossible without devastating cuts to Medicaid, a critical program that provides essential health care to nearly one in three Americans.

The Republican budget also demands about $300 billion in cuts to programs under the House Agriculture Committee, threatening the largest-ever cut to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which helps over 42 million Americans afford groceries.