On April 10, 2025, the U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed a budget resolution with a 216-214 vote. This resolution, which reflects a newly agreed upon budget framework by House and Senate, includes directives for significant federal spending cuts, notably instructing the House Energy and Commerce Committee (E&C) to propose $880 billion reduction in spending over the next decade. Since Medicaid and Medicare constitute the majority of this committee's budget (and with Medicare cuts reportedly off the table), Medicaid is still on the chopping block. The next step is that each chamber discusses what to cut and how to make these cuts and then drafts legislation to implement the agreed-upon budgetary measures. This legislation will outline specific changes to programs like Medicaid, and both chambers will need to “reconcile” their versions of the bills so they are identical. Once drafted and negotiated, this reconciliation bill will be presented for votes in both the House and Senate. Due to the reconciliation process, only a simple majority (51 votes) is required for passage in the Senate.
While the advancement to the next step in the budget process is a setback, please know that there are still many opportunities for us to stop these massive cuts from happening and protect Medicaid. We cannot give up and surrender. In fact, our advocacy efforts need to ramp up in intensity. Please use NDSC's Action Alert to contact your Members of Congress, and share the NDSC Medicaid FAQ with other advocates in your networks. You can also call the Congressional switchboard at (202) 224-3121. This is a marathon not a sprint, and we need to keep charging forward.
House approves budget framework, kick-starting work on Trump's domestic agenda by NPR