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WATCH: Ahead of Shutdown Showdown, Former HHS Sec. Becerra, Former HRSA Administrator, U.S. Rep. Walkinshaw (D-VA), VA Delegates Call Out the Trump-GOP Health Care Crisis

By September 15, 2025No Comments

Rep. Walkinshaw: “We are barreling toward a Trump Shutdown later this month, in large part because Trump has instructed Congressional Republicans not to negotiate with Democrats at all, not to work in a bipartisan way.”


Today, former Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra, former Health Resources and Services Administration Administrator Carole Johnson, Congressman James Walkinshaw (D-VA), and Virginia State Delegates Destiny LeVere Bolling and Rozia Henson participated in a press call hosted by Defend America Action to call out Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans’ devastating health care cuts and discuss the tangible impact they’re already having on hospitals, including recent closures in Virginia. 

The call took place as health care has taken center stage in the budget standoff in Congress, as Republicans are barreling towards shutting the government down rather than fixing the health care crisis they created by restoring deep cuts to Medicaid and renewing health care credits millions of Americans rely on to afford care.

“At the same time that this administration has essentially closed down the talent, closed down all the experience that has made it possible for us to keep America safe, this administration is also gutting health care for so many families. When you take a trillion dollars out of the Medicaid program and you tell people that they will no longer have access to that care, it’s going to hurt a lot of people,” said former Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra. “It’s unfortunate because all that money that was taken out of the health care system is being used by Republicans to cover the cost of tax breaks for billionaires. There’s a clear choice to either protect America’s health or protect the wealthy billionaires. The choice was made by too many in Congress and this President to choose billionaires at the same time that this administration is standing down the great tools that we have at the Department of Health and Human Services. It’s a prescription for a man-made disaster.”

“Congress and the President and this administration took nearly a trillion dollars out of the Medicaid program, and are now debating whether or not they’re going to extend critical credits that make health insurance possible and affordable for small businesses, for kids aging off their parents’ health insurance, for those older adults who are nearing Medicare retirement age, all of those folks are about to lose those enhanced tax credits that make their health insurance affordable.” said former Health Resources and Services Administration Administrator Carole Johnson. “When you take nearly a trillion dollars out of the Medicaid system, and see a whole host of other people lose their insurance coverage from the marketplace, what you see is devastation for the health care provider community that depends on these resources to be able to sustain their services.”

“We are barreling toward a Trump Shutdown later this month, in large part because Trump has instructed Congressional Republicans not to negotiate with Democrats at all, not to work in a bipartisan way, and what we as House Democrats have been asking for is just a conversation about the American people’s need to have access to high quality, affordable health care and preventing the devastating cuts that are headed our way and that will have a very real and tangible impact here in the Commonwealth of Virginia,” said Congressman James Walkinshaw. “I’m hopeful that Congressional Republicans might ignore the direction from President Trump to not negotiate with Democrats and come to the table in a serious way so we can prevent these devastating cuts, keep people on their health care, and keep the government open.”

“Donald Trump and all of those MAGA Republicans have launched a direct attack on our health care system, and Virginians are already paying the price,” said Virginia State Delegate Destiny LeVere Bolling. “The cuts that we’re seeing, they’re irresponsible and more so, they’re dangerous. So it seems to me that under the so-called Big, Ugly bill, our hospitals are underfunded, working families are left vulnerable, and Medicaid, which more than 1.9 million Virginians rely on, is being gutted. What I know is that here in Virginia, we’re going to be a Commonwealth that ensures everyone, no matter their zip code or income, has access to health care.”

“This isn’t about statistics. This isn’t about political talking points. These are real people facing impossible choices between paying rent or buying medicine, between feeding their children and getting the medical care they desperately need. When people can’t access preventive care, they end up in emergency rooms, driving up costs for everyone. When chronic conditions go untreated, people can’t work, reducing productivity and economic growth,” said Virginia State Delegate Rozia Henson. “Our rural hospitals are already struggling. These cuts threaten to close facilities that serve lifelines for the entire communities that they serve. When a rural hospital closes, it doesn’t just affect health care, it affects jobs, economic development, and the survival of small towns.”

BACKGROUND

Republicans rammed an unpopular, unaffordable tax break for the wealthiest people in the country through Congress, and they’re paying for it by raising costs, taking away health care, and slashing school lunches for working families. 

  • COSTS GOING UP WHILE BILLIONAIRE TAXES GO DOWN: A new nonpartisan CBO analysis confirms that Republicans’ plans will raise health care costs for working families and take away Medicaid from millions of people, all to pay for a massive tax break for the ultra-wealthy.
  • THE GOP BUDGET WILL SLASH HEALTH CARE ACCESS: Trump and Republicans’ budget will kick more than 15 million Americans off health care in order to pay for tax breaks for billionaires – even though just 8 percent of Virginia voters support cuts to Medicaid. This will create a $29 billion hole over 10 years in the Virginia state budget, threaten to close at least six critical rural hospitals across the state, and cause premium costs and out-of-pocket costs to rise for nearly 350,000 Virginians.
    • This bill works to remove as many Medicaid recipients as possible under the guise of “work requirements.” In reality, virtually all Medicaid recipients work.

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