BURSTFormer President Obama urged Americans to call their representatives Wednesday and tell them to vote against President Trump’s megabill as the House scrambles to push the massive spending package through.
“More than 16 million Americans are at risk of losing their health care because Republicans in Congress are rushing to pass a bill that would cut federal funding for Medicaid and weaken the Affordable Care Act,” Obama said in a post on social platform X.
“If the House passes this bill, it will increase costs and hurt working class families for generations to come. Call your representative today and tell them to vote no on this bill.”
The House appeared to be in a holding pattern Wednesday afternoon as Republican leaders pressed holdouts to help the “big, beautiful bill” advance by Trump’s desired July 4 deadline. Democrats and a number of House Republicans are vexed about the bill’s impact on the deficit, while others worry about Medicaid cuts and other changes.
Vice President Vance cast a tiebreaker vote Tuesday to clear the bill through the Senate after a 27-hour marathon of amendment votes. GOP Sens. Thom Tillis (N.C.), Rand Paul (Ky.) and Susan Collins (Maine) voted against the measure, along with every Democrat.
The legislation would reduce federal spending on Medicaid, Medicare and the Affordable Care Act, also known as ObamaCare, by roughly $1 trillion, according to a Saturday report from the Congressional Budget Office, doubling back on gains made under the Obama and Biden administrations.
The Senate-passed version of the bill could also result in 11.8 million Americans losing insurance by 2034, an additional 1 million more people than were affected by the earlier House version.