Rep. Buddy Carter Defends Medicaid Reform and GOP Budget Strategy

In this weeks episode of Breaking Battlegrounds, Congressman Buddy Carter joins hosts Chuck Warren and Sam Stone to tackle some of the most misunderstood elements of the GOP’s budget reforms, particularly changes to Medicaid and the House’s narrow budget victory.

“We are saving Medicaid. We are sustaining it. We are stabilizing it—and we’re making it better,” Carter said, pushing back on claims that Republican efforts will leave vulnerable Americans without coverage. Instead, Carter explained, the reforms are intended to refocus the program on the populations it was designed for: the elderly, the disabled, mothers, and children.

Carter noted that under the current system, many ineligible and even undocumented individuals have been receiving benefits, especially in states like California, New York, and Illinois. The reforms would require states to conduct more frequent eligibility checks, remove those who are not legally qualified, and introduce work requirements for able-bodied adults who are not caretakers.

“I don’t think most Americans oppose that,” he added. “They understand that a safety net should support the most vulnerable—not those who can support themselves.”

Carter also broke down the razor-thin passage of the GOP budget bill, which required strategic compromise on issues like the SALT deduction to secure votes from Republicans in high-tax blue states. Despite ideological differences within the party, Carter praised Speaker Mike Johnson’s leadership in uniting the caucus.

At the core of the bill is the extension of Trump-era tax cuts, which Carter warned is essential to avoid what could become the largest tax increase in American history. As the legislation moves to the Senate, he urged lawmakers to avoid major changes that could derail its economic priorities.

Transcript

Sean Noble: We're going to literally kill people because they're going to lose coverage. Tell us about what the truth is as to how you're finding savings and why those savings are important for protecting those who actually need Medicaid.

Rep. Buddy Carter: Well, thank you for that question, because it is very important we get this straight. We are saving Medicaid.

We are sustaining it. We're actually stabilizing it, and we're making it better. Keep in mind what Medicaid was intended for. It was intended for the most vulnerable in our society. It was intended for the aged, the blind, the disabled, for mothers and for children. And what we're doing is we're doing IIAV. We are getting the ineligibles off.

We are getting the illegals off. We are making sure that able bodies are doing work requirements. And we are making sure that the most vulnerable in our society are served. That's what we're doing with the savings. We are making sure that states are going to be checking their roles more frequently

to make sure that those people who are ineligible are not on those rolls. We're making sure that those states like California, New York, and Illinois that are paying and allowing illegals to be on Medicaid, that they are getting them off of Medicaid. We're making sure that able-bodied adults,

not those who are caring for children or caring for a parent, but instead those who are able-bodied, that they have work requirements, that they have to work or that they have to volunteer at least 20 hours a week. Now, I don't think that most Americans oppose that. I think that they think that's a good idea.

So what we're doing, again, is that we are making this program better for the most vulnerable in our society that it was intended for.

Sean Noble: That's great. Go ahead, Chuck.

Chuck Warren: Congressman, I want you, if you could, for a minute to play professor here. So the House passed this big, beautiful bill by one vote in May.

People don't seem to understand, especially on the right, because they're complaining about various cuts. They're complaining about salt. You hear that a lot right now. And I try to explain to them that, you know, not every member of Congress thinks alike. If you had not done certain things,

you may not have gotten a vote from a congressman or woman in New York or California or the case may be. Can you explain to people the delicate balance in negotiating a budget bill like this?

Rep. Buddy Carter: Absolutely. And again, a great question, because it was a very precarious situation that I have to applaud Mike Johnson and leadership.

They did a great job of crafting this so that we were able to get. The 218 votes that we needed in order to get it passed. And that's what you've got to do. Look, we identified waste, fraud and abuse. We identified a number of different things that saved us.

And I hear all this about, yes, salt was a big issue, especially for those in the Northeast. And we were able to negotiate and we were able to compromise and we were able to come up with a solution there. Now it's gone over to the Senate. They may tweak it some.

I certainly hope that they don't make major changes to it. But, you know, they do have that right. But at the same time, I think that they recognize that you've got to keep the main thing the main thing. The main thing in this bill is to make sure that we extend those tax cuts.

Because if we do not, Americans will be looking at the largest tax increase, the highest tax increase, they've ever seen. And we can ill afford to let that happen to our economy.

Sean Noble: That's such a great point because, I mean, the price on the salt is a pretty small price to pay when it comes to what we would

face without passage of this bill. And it is interesting. One of the things I was talking to a friend about, you know, when you think about the difference between the House and the Senate and how the politics with this works, The one thing that's interesting is that the SALT issue is a House issue because

there are Republican House members from New York, from Illinois, from California, these blue states that are high tax states. There are no senators from those states. So. So it will, you know, I suppose the blue state Republicans who pushed for salt in the House are going to

need to talk to John Thune to protect that language in the Senate bill. But I think you're exactly right. I think that, you know, my hope is that the Senate doesn't do anything dramatic to create problems because passage of this is important for the economy. Right.

Rep. Buddy Carter: It is vitally important for the economy. And you're right.

All politics are local. All politics are local. And I get it. If I were from the Northeast, I'd be fighting just as hard as they're fighting. And yeah, there are things important to me that may not be as important to them. But at the same time, we've all got to represent our constituency,

and that's exactly what they're doing. And thank you for making the point that there are no Republican senators. In New York and in California and Illinois. So they're not going to be that concerned about it, and they need to understand that the House members are concerned about it.

And I will tell you, for some of them, it's a red line. They mess with it, and I'm afraid you're going to lose some votes over here.

Sean Noble: Yes, I believe that.

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