Latest news with #JoniErnst
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump's budget bill gives Democrats a lot of talking points for 2026 midterms: Dem. strategist
President Trump's 'big, beautiful' bill heads to the Senate this week, with major cuts to Medicaid and SNAP food benefits at stake. Democratic strategist Don Calloway, and MSNBC political analysts Susan Del Percio and Brendan Buck share their insights on how Democrats can fight the passage of the bill and Sen. Joni Ernst's (R-IA) non-apologetic apology for her latest comments.
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Murphy says Ernst's constituents ‘would just rather die in old age'
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said Sunday that Sen. Joni Ernst's (R-Iowa) constituents know they will die, but 'would just rather die in old age,' referencing a town hall remark from the Iowa Republican. 'I think everybody in that audience knows that they're going to die,' Murphy told CNN's Dana Bash on 'State of the Union,' discussing comments made by Ernst on Friday in response to a remark that cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) would result in deaths. 'They would just rather die in old age at 85 or 90, instead of dying at 40. And the reality is that, when you lose your health care, you are much more at risk of early death,' Murphy added. During a town hall in Butler, Iowa, Ernst defended spending reforms included in a budget reconciliation package passed by the House, including those that would stop people from getting federal benefits if they've entered the country illegally. A person in the crowd attempted to talk over the senator, interrupting her while she was answering questions about about changes to Medicaid and SNAP and shouting that people are 'going to die' as a result. 'Well, we're all going to die,' Ernst responded, drawing jeers. Ernst later doubled down on her comments on social media, saying in a Saturday Instagram post that she 'made an incorrect assumption that everyone in the auditorium understood that, yes, we are all going to perish from this Earth.' 'So I apologize, and I'm really, really glad that I did not have to bring up the subject of the tooth fairy as well,' she added. The Hill has reached out to Ernst's office for comment. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Washington Post
14 hours ago
- Business
- Washington Post
Ernst posts snarky reply after telling town hall ‘we all are going to die'
Sen. Joni Ernst, an Iowa Republican facing reelection in 2026, flippantly dismissed voters' concerns in recent days that people could die if Republicans cut Medicaid as they've promised to do in President Donald Trump's sprawling immigration and tax package. Speaking at a town hall in Butler County, Iowa, on Friday, Ernst was explaining how the bill would affect Medicaid eligibility when one audience member yelled out that individuals who lost coverage due to the cuts could die.
Yahoo
17 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
People know 'they're going to die': Democrat hits GOP senator over viral town hall exchange
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Connecticut, hit back at a Republican colleague who went viral after telling a town hall audience member that "we all are going to die" in response to concerns over Medicaid cuts. "I think everybody in that audience knows that they're going to die," Murphy told CNN's Dana Bash. "They would just rather die in old age at 85 or 90, instead of dying at 40." The comment come after Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, addressed federal cuts to Medicaid – which Republicans have proposed as part of President Donald Trump's sweeping tax bill – during a town hall in Parkersburg, Iowa, on May 30. As she was speaking, someone shouted from the audience, "people will die!" Ernst then told the auditorium, "People are not – well, we all are going to die. For heaven's sakes, folks." Medicaid, the program that provides health insurance to more than 71 million low-income Americans, would undergo big changes under the bill that passed in the House last month. That includes new work requirements for some adults beginning in December 2026, more frequent eligibility checks and disincentives for states to cover unauthorized migrant children, among other provisions. Collectively, the Medicaid proposal would save at least $625 billion and cause 7.6 million Americans to lose their health insurance over the next 10 years, according to initial estimates by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Still, Ernst shared a sarcastic apology video after facing criticism from Democrats over her response to the town hall attendees' concerns. "Hello everyone," she said in a video posted to social media. "I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely apologize for a statement that I made yesterday at my town hall." "I made an incorrect assumption that everyone in the auditorium understood that yes, we are all going to perish from this Earth," she added. "So, I apologize. And I'm really, really glad that I did not have to bring up the subject of the tooth fairy as well." Republicans have said the proposed changes to Medicaid protect the program for those who need it, and their legislation is curbing waste and fraud. Democrats, like Murphy, argue the fallout will be felt by Americans across the country. "When rural hospitals close because of this bill, when drug treatment clinics close in Iowa and rural America because of this bill, more people will die at a younger age," Murphy alleged in the interview on June 1. Though Republicans control the Senate, the legislation isn't expected to sail through the upper chamber. Several Senate Republicans, including Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Rand Paul of Kentucky, argue the bill comes with too high a price tag. "This is our moment," Johnson told CNN's Jake Tapper in May. "We have witnessed an unprecedented level of increased spending ... This is our only chance to reset that to a reasonable pre-pandemic level." House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, and other champions of the legislation argue the legislation is an investment in America's economy. But it's expected to add around $3.3 trillion to the nation's deficit over the next 10 years and swell the federal government's debt. Contributing: Stephen Gruber-Miller, Des Moines Register; Riley Beggin This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dem Chris Muphy hits Republican Joni Ernst town hall Medicaid comment
The Guardian
18 hours ago
- Business
- The Guardian
US budget chief calls fears that cuts to benefits will lead to deaths ‘totally ridiculous'
The White House budget director Russ Vought on Sunday dismissed as 'totally ridiculous' fears expressed by voters that cuts to benefits in the huge spending bill passed by the House will lead to premature deaths in America. Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill act, now awaiting debate in the US Senate, will slash two major federal safety net programs, Medicaid, which provides healthcare to poor and disabled Americans, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap), which helps people afford groceries, affecting millions of people if it becomes law. Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and a key figure in Project 2025, the rightwing manifesto created to guide a second Trump term, defended the bill in an appearance on CNN on Sunday morning, as well as the lacerations to the federal workforce under Elon Musk's so-called 'department of government efficiency' (Doge). Vought was asked about a town hall meeting in Iowa last week hosted by Senator Joni Ernst where, when fielding questions about proposed cuts to Medicaid, a constituent yelled out that as a result people were going to die. Ernst responded, to jeers: 'People are not – well, we all are going to die. For heaven's sakes, folks.' Then, after the exchange went viral online, she posted a sarcastic non-apology video on Saturday, saying: 'I made an incorrect assumption that everyone in the auditorium understood that yes, we are all going to perish from this Earth. So I apologize. And I'm really, really glad that I did not have to bring up the subject of the tooth fairy as well.' When Vought responded on CNN's State of the Union politics show about such concerns over cuts to health insurance and grocery subsidies leading to premature deaths, he said: 'It's totally ridiculous. This is 'astroturf', this bill will preserve and protect the programs, the social safety net, but it will make it much more common sense.' Astroturfing is slang for pretending criticism is coming from the grassroots when, in fact, it is being orchestrated by interested parties. Some advocacy groups have said loss of Medicaid insurance and food stamps will cause great hardship. 'These cuts won't just hurt – they will kill,' the head of the Ohio Nurses Association said, while the American Academy of Pediatrics said the bill if passed would result in 'hungry kids' and impossible choices for many families, while the American Hospital Association has warned that rural hospitals could close. On the same CNN show on Sunday, Senator Chris Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, condemned Vought's and Ernst's remarks, saying: 'Everyone would rather die in old age than at 40.' Murphy said people losing health insurance in order to continue tax cuts for the richest would lead to more deaths and that the bill is 'an absolute disaster' and will add to the US deficit. 'It's just unreal the amount of gaslighting this administration is doing,' he said. Fellow Democrat and Georgia senator, Raphael Warnock, told NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday that he is in favor of work but a work reporting requirement in the bill, as a condition of Medicaid, 'is very good at kicking people off their healthcare coverage, it's not good at incentivizing people to work'. He added that if passed, the legislation would result in 'a workforce that's sicker and poorer' and damage to the US economy. The House speaker, Mike Johnson, who got the bill through the chamber last month but faces a greater challenge from some fellow Republicans in the Senate, told NBC that the bill does not include cuts to Medicaid but instead would strengthen the system and result in reductions in 'fraud, waste and abuse'. Thee House minority leader and New York Democratic congressman Hakeem Jeffries predicted that the bill will not pass the Republican-controlled Senate. 'Hospitals will close, nursing homes will shut down and people will literally die,' he warned if the bill passes.
