Sen. Josh Hawley (R-M.O.) has come under scrutiny on social media after he introduced new legislation on Tuesday that would repeal some parts of
President Donald Trump’s
“big, beautiful bill” that he voted for.
Hawley joined most Senate Republicans in passing the GOP’s multitrillion-dollar spending bill, advancing the policy package to the House, where it ultimately muscled its way through earlier this month. The bill, which will extend Trump’s signature first-term tax breaks while cutting funding for Medicaid, was
signed into law
by the president on the Fourth of July.
Hawley has since taken the heat for voting in support of the bill, after directly admitting that he held reservations. In May, in an
op-ed for The New York Times
, the senator urged his colleagues to not slash funding for Medicaid, which serves over 70 million Americans and over 1 million residents of Missouri, the state he represents in Congress.
And since the bill has been enacted, Hawley has
continued to criticize
its steep Medicaid cuts, emphasizing that he will work to ensure that provider tax changes, which would limit state reimbursement for the program, will not go into effect in Missouri in the next few years — despite the legislation he helped pass expected to do exactly that.
In Hawley’s
proposed bill
, titled the “Protect Medicaid and Rural Hospitals Act,” he aims to “repeal the changes to Medicaid State provider tax authority and State directed payments made by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and provide increased funding for the rural health transformation program,” the text reads. It also seeks more investments in rural hospitals by doubling a fund passed in the spending bill to $100 billion.
“President Trump has always said we have to protect Medicaid for working people. Now is the time to prevent any future cuts to Medicaid from going into effect,” Hawley said in a press release.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., introduces a new bill to repeal some of the Medicaid cuts in Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, which he voted for. “Now is the time to prevent any future cuts to Medicaid from going into effect,” Hawley says.
Full text 👇
pic.twitter.com/CsTsCOsIKe
His sudden reversal has been met with mockery by several social media users — many who have suggested that the new piece of legislation is hypocritical after he voted for the budget package only a few weeks prior.
“Please unpass the bill I just passed,”
one journalist wrote
, and
a different user added
, “Hahahaha… this is so predictable.”
Another user said
: “Our Congress has become a playground for fundamentally unserious people who behave as if they have no agency when it comes to influencing policy outcomes. It’s f—— infuriating.”
“You had the opportunity to fight for changes. You did the damage already,”
someone wrote
.
Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.) also
swooped in
: “Josh Hawley and I both agree that Americans would be better off if we could get rid of the problems created by Josh Hawley.”
“First, Josh Halwey talked about not wanting to cut Medicaid. Then, when the billionaires needed his vote, he voted to cut Medicaid. Now that the Medicaid cuts are passed, he’s back to talking about not wanting to cut Medicaid. He’s full of s—,” Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas)
wrote
.
Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.)
asked
, “Just so I’m clear… he’s introducing a bill….to repeal the bill… he voted for….two weeks ago?”
“Profile in courage right there,” Fox News’ Jessica Tarlov, who co-hosts “The Five,”
wrote
.
Another user
chimed in
: “Now Hawley is trying to run away from his own vote by introducing a new bill that protects Medicaid from being cut. Don’t buy it. This is cowardice.”
While Hawley has acknowledged changes to Medicaid, a host of Trump administration officials and Republican lawmakers have
maintained
that there are no cuts imposed against health care program. The bill adds a new requirement for those enrolled in the program, which requires able-bodied, childless adults between the ages of 18 and 64 to work at least 80 hours a month to be eligible to receive benefits.
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