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Republicans once maligned Medicaid. Now some see a program too big to touch
WASHINGTON (AP) — Every time a baby is born in Louisiana, where Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson handily won reelection last year, there’s more than a 60% chance taxpayers will finance the birth through Medicaid.
In Republican Rep. David Valadao ’s central California district, 6 out of 10 people use Medicaid to pay for doctor visits and emergency room trips.
And one-third of the population is covered by Medicaid in GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s Alaska, one of the nation’s costliest corners for health care.
Each of these Republicans — and some of their conservative colleagues — lined up last week to defend Medicaid, in a departure from long-held GOP policies. Republicans, who already have ruled out massive cuts to Social Security and Medicare, are turning their attention to siphoning as much as $880 billion from Medicaid over the next decade to help finance $4.5 trillion in tax cuts.
But as a deadline to avoid a partial government shutdown nears, hesitation is surfacing among Washington’s Republican lawmakers — once reliable critics of lofty government social welfare programs such as Medicaid — who say that deep cuts to the health care program could prove too untenable for people back home.
“I’ve heard from countless constituents who tell me the only way they can afford health care is through programs like Medicaid,” Valadao said on the House floor. “And I will not support a final reconciliation bill that risks leaving them behind.”
And on Wednesday, President Donald Trump, too, made his position on Medicaid clear: “We’re not going to touch it.”
States and the federal government jointly pay for Medicaid, which offers nearly-free health care coverage for roughly 80 million poor and disabled Americans, including millions of children. It cost $880 billion to operate in 2023.
Johnson has ruled out two of the biggest potential cuts: paying fixed, shrunken rates to states for care and changing the calculation for the share of federal dollars that each state receives for Medicaid. Just a few years ago, Johnson spearheaded a report that lobbied for some of those changes during the first Trump administration.
Johnson insisted in a CNN interview that the focus will instead be ferreting out “fraud, waste and abuse, in Medicaid, although it’s unlikely to deliver the savings Republicans seek.
GOP pressure over Medicaid is mounting, with some state party leaders joining the calls to preserve the program. States are already struggling with the growing cost of sicker patients and could be left to cover more if the federal government pulls back. In some states, the federal government picks up over 80%.
More than a dozen Minnesota GOP lawmakers wrote the president recently warning that “too deep of a cut is unmanageable in any instance.” Gov. Joe Lombardo, R-Nev., told Congress in a letter that “proposed reductions would put lives at risk.” In Alaska, state Senate Majority Leader Cathy Giessel, a Republican and nurse, cited “huge concerns” during a floor speech.
Nationally, 55% of Americans said the government spends too little on Medicaid, according to a January poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
“It’s now a very popular program that touches a very broad cross-section of American society,” said Drew Altman, president of the health care research firm KFF. “Roughly half of the American people say that they or a family member have at one time been served by the program.”
Significant changes to Medicaid are still on the table. They have to be for Republicans get the savings they need to pay for tax cuts.
Work requirements, which could save as much as $109 billion over the next decade, seem to have solid support among GOP members, with some individual Republican-led states already moving to implement them.
Republicans also could consider cuts in benefits or coverage, as well as eliminating a provider tax that states use to finance Medicaid, Altman added.
Democrats warn that reductions are inevitable and could be dire.
Starting Monday, TV ads will caution people across 20 congressional districts that hospitals are at risk of closing and millions of people could lose coverage if Republicans cut Medicaid “to fund massive tax cuts for Elon Musk and billionaires.” The Democratic super political action committee House Majority Forward has launched the seven-figure campaign.
Trump and Republicans have for years called to lower government spending on health care, but they have struggled to formulate a serious plan that gains traction. Trump, for example, has spent nearly a decade arguing for an overhaul of the Affordable Care Act. His efforts to repeal the Obama-era national health care law failed during his first term and in his most recent presidential campaign he offered only “concepts of a plan” to adapt the program.
Michael Cannon, a director of health studies at libertarian Cato Institute, believes Medicaid needs an overhaul because it is a significant part of the federal budget and a contributor to the nation’s growing debt.
But Republicans, he said, are not looking at serious ways to drive down the cost of health care.
“The only reason for the cuts right now is to pay for the tax cuts,” Cannon said. “None of them are talking about the need to do better health reform.”
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Associated Press writer Becky Bohrer in Juneau, Alaska and AP Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.
Sony’s “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple” launched atop the U.K. and Ireland box office, opening to £3.3 million ($4.5 million) and taking the No. 1 spot, according to Comscore.
Lionsgate U.K.’s “The Housemaid” moved to second place in its fourth weekend, adding $3.8 million for a robust cumulative total of $30.5 million. Universal’s awards-season contender “Hamnet” placed third, earning $3.5 million in its sophomore frame and pushing its running total to $11.3 million.
Disney’s tentpole “Avatar: Fire and Ash” continued its strong run in fourth place with $2.3 million, lifting its cumulative gross to $51.8 million. Entertainment Film Distributors’ “Marty Supreme” rounded out the top five, collecting $2 million in its fourth weekend for a $16 million total.
Further down the chart, Disney’s “Zootopia 2” landed sixth with $1.3 million, taking its total to $41.1 million. Disney also debuted “Rental Family” in seventh, where it opened to $705,000. Warner Bros.’ reissue of “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” opened in eighth place with $639,000.
Paramount’s “The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants” claimed ninth place, adding $631,000 for a cumulative $10 million, while Sony’s “Anaconda” completed the top 10 with $406,000, bringing its total haul to $7 million.
A varied slate rolls into U.K. and Irish cinemas from Jan. 22, led by event cinema and a cluster of high-profile wide releases. The National Theatre brings “Hamlet – NT Live 2026” to the big screen, while Trafalgar Releasing adds music documentary fare with “Megadeth: Behind the Mask.”
The week’s biggest commercial muscle arrives on Jan. 23 with Universal’s “The History of Sound,” Oliver Hermanus’ romantic drama starring Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor, which lands on 300+ screens. Sony is opening cyber thriller “Mercy,” while Entertainment Film Distributors unleashes genre sequel “Return to Silent Hill,” targeting horror fans. Vertigo Releasing is opening “Saipan,” a soccer drama headlined by Steve Coogan, Éanna Hardwicke and Alice Lowe.
Family audiences are catered for with Miracle/Dazzler’s animated “Dogs at the Opera,” while Lionsgate U.K. releases “H Is for Hawk,” the adaptation of Helen Macdonald’s acclaimed memoir. Mubi adds arthouse weight with Park Chan-wook’s Oscar-shortlisted “No Other Choice,” and AA Films U.K. brings in Bollywood war film “Border 2.” Rounding out the slate is BUFF Studios’ “Heavyweight,” a boxing drama featuring Nicholas Pinnock and Jason Isaacs.
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U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin received an invitation to join his new Board of Peace that will supervise the next phase of the Gaza peace plan.
Trump confirmed Putin’s invitation while speaking to reporters at the College Football National Championship Game in Florida, where Indiana defeated Miami.
“Yeah, he’s been invited,” Trump told reporters.
SIX COUNTRIES CONFIRM US INVITATIONS TO GAZA PEACE BOARD
President Donald Trump greets Russian President Vladimir Putin as he arrives at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
The Kremlin said earlier on Monday that Putin had received the invitation, adding that it is now “studying the details” and will seek clarity of “all the nuances” in communications with the U.S. government.
France has also received an invitation but does not plan to join the Board of Peace “at this stage,” a French official close to President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday.
The French official said the issue is raising questions, particularly with regard to respect for the principles and structure of the United Nations.
U.S. President Donald Trump meets Russian President Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)
Asked at the championship game about Macron being unlikely to join, Trump took jabs at his French counterpart and threatened tariffs for refusing to accept the invitation.
“Well, nobody wants him because he’s going to be out of office very soon,” Trump said of Macron.
“I’ll put a 200% tariff on his wines and champagnes, and he’ll join,” he added. “But he doesn’t have to join.”
LINDSEY GRAHAM MEETS WITH MOSSAD DIRECTOR DURING TRIP TO ISRAEL
U.S. President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron shake hands. (REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett/Pool)
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Several other countries have also received invitations, including Israel, Canada, Belarus, Slovenia and Thailand.
Morocco, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Hungary and Argentina have already accepted invitations.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
NSW coastline has seen four shark attacks since Sunday, as experts say rainy conditions draw sharks to beach areas.
Published On 20 Jan 2026
Dozens of beaches along Australia’s eastern New South Wales (NSW) coastline have been closed following four confirmed shark attacks since the weekend.
The latest attack came on Tuesday near the town of Port Macquarie, about 400km (248 miles) north of Sydney, where a 39-year-old surfer was bitten by a shark at Point Plomer, according to Australia’s ABC News.
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Authorities say the victim escaped serious injury, but beaches around Port Macquarie were shuttered on Tuesday following the attack as the government-run Shark Smart App indicated dozens of recent shark sightings near NSW beaches.
Sydney’s Northern Beaches Council also shuttered its beaches for at least 48 hours after a 27-year-old man was left in critical condition on Monday night following a shark attack at a beach in the Sydney suburb of Manly.
A young surfer at northern Sydney’s Dee Why beach narrowly escaped a shark attack the same day, although the shark bit a chunk out of his surfboard, according to ABC.
On Sunday, a 12-year-old was seriously injured by a shark while swimming at a beach in eastern Sydney, ABC reported.
“If you’re thinking about going for a swim, think of going to a local pool because at this stage, we’re advising that beaches are unsafe,” Steven Pearce, the chief executive of Surf Life Saving New South Wales, told reporters following the beach closures.
The beaches of NSW have been extra busy as Australians enjoy their summer holidays, but experts say recent heavy rains around Sydney have also created ideal conditions for shark attacks.
Brackish water makes it difficult to see, while sewage run-off from rainwater has drawn in baitfish and sharks to coastal areas, according to Chris Pepin-Neff, an academic and expert on shark behaviour.
“Stay out of Sydney Harbour and the beach after a rainstorm. Wait 72 hours after a storm to swim in the harbour and be mindful of swimming or surfing at ocean beaches for 24 hours after a large downpour,” Pepin-Neff wrote on Tuesday in an op-ed for the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper.
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