In a war of words, the White House on Monday called out House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries for his claim that President Donald Trump‘s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” will result in deaths. In response, the minority leader’s office tells theGrio the facts speak for themselves.
This week, the U.S. Senate is considering passage of the Republican Party’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” which includes key items of Trump’s agenda, like permanent tax cuts and increased spending for immigration enforcement. To pay for such spending increases, the massive tax and budget bill would require at least $600 million in cuts to Medicaid over the next 10 years and reduce enrollment by about 10.3 million people, according to a preliminary estimate by the Congressional Budget Office. The legislation would also expand work requirements for certain Medicaid enrollees.
On Sunday, during an interview with CNN, Jeffries warned that if enacted, “hospitals will close, nursing homes will shut down, and people will literally die.” The New York Democrat cautioned that the bill would cut SNAP, resulting in the “largest cut to nutritional assistance in American history.” He added, “It takes food out of the mouths of children, seniors and veterans.”
Jeffries continued, “And all of this is being done in order to enact massive tax breaks for their billionaire donors like Elon Musk.”
In response to Jeffries, the White House sent a “fact” memo calling the Democratic leader’s remarks a “hoax.” The Trump administration claimed that removing undocumented immigrants from Medicaid, requiring employment to receive benefits, and cutting so-called waste, fraud, and abuse would actually strengthen the Medicaid program.
“This is one of Democrats’ most disgusting lies because the One Big Beautiful Bill strengthens and protects the social safety net for every eligible American citizen who needs it,” said the White House memo.
In response to the White House, a spokesperson for Rep. Hakeem Jeffries told theGrio, “The Leader’s comments speak for themselves, given that multiple outside estimates have pointed out that the Medicaid cuts and red tape requirements in the One Big Ugly Bill would result in millions of people losing healthcare coverage and tens of thousands of avoidable deaths.”
The Jeffries representative added, “Once again, Donald Trump and Republicans are trying to distract from their deeply unpopular legislation, which two-thirds of Americans oppose, precisely because people will literally die in order to give billionaires like Elon Musk more tax breaks.”
An analysis of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act conducted by the Center for American Progress found that work requirements for Medicaid recipients would result in the deaths of thousands of Americans in congressional districts where Medicaid had been expanded.
“New estimates from the Center for American Progress show that 6.9 million people losing coverage by 2034 as a result of congressional Republicans’ proposed paperwork requirements would lead to more than 21,600 avoidable deaths nationally each year,” says the CAP report. “In some districts…the annual death toll could reach into the hundreds as a result of House Republicans’ proposed Medicaid work reporting requirements.”
The issue of potential deaths from Medicaid cuts was punctuated in recent days when Iowa Senator Joni Ernst mockingly told concerned constituents, “We’re all going to die.” She doubled down on her remarks in a social media post while filming at a graveyard.
“I made an incorrect assumption that everyone in the auditorium understood that, yes, we are all going to perish from this earth,” said Ernst, who is up for re-election in 2026. “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.”
Dr. Rev. William Barber, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign, pushed back against Ernst’s comments, telling theGrio, “Everybody’s gonna die, but everybody shouldn’t be forced to die.” He continued, “It’s a strange, cynical ugliness in the midst of all of this, simply because people are so caught up in the love of money.”
Barber, who was arrested on Monday in the U.S. Capitol while praying in protest of the Big Beautiful Bill’s impact on poor Americans, said Americans are already dying as a result of poverty–stripping away their health care will only exacerbate that number, he warned.
“There’s nothing in this budget to help with living wages. They put more money in trying to create more deportations than they do in developing health care,” Barber added. “That’s not just hyperbole. It’s serious business. They are playing with the lives of human beings.”
