Can US House Republicans cut $880bn without slashing Medicaid?

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries speaks out against the Republican budget plan on the steps at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on February 25, 2025 [Scott Applewhite/AP]

The prospect of deep cuts to Medicaid, the United States government programme to provide healthcare to low-income people, has become a flashpoint in Congress as leaders of both parties accuse their counterparts of lying.

Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic Party leader in the House of Representatives, said on February 27 that a Republican budget measure would “set in motion the largest cut to Medicaid in American history” and Republicans are hiding the consequences.