On Friday, Senate Republicans supported an amendment to their budget proposal with the intention of safeguarding Medicare and Medicaid.
The amendment, approved with a vote of 51-48 and introduced by Senator Dan Sullivan from Alaska (Republican), was the initial one put forth as part of the vote-a-rama ahead of a final vote On the legislation that will outline President Trump's domestic plan, such as prolonging his tax reductions.
The Sullivan amendment focuses on measures pertaining to Medicaid, particularly those that "could involve reinforcing and enhancing" the program "for the most at-risk groups."
Reproachers have pointed fingers at Republicans for attempting to utilize the budget reconciliation process as a means to slash entitlement initiatives, led by Medicaid reductions, so as to finance their drive toward passing tax cuts with aims to possibly render these changes perpetual.
The resolution directs the House Energy and Commerce Committee to cut the deficit by $880 billion, a goal experts claim cannot be achieved without drastically reducing Medicaid spending.
Several Republicans have argued that any reductions to these programs would aim at eliminating "waste, fraud, and abuse" instead of cutting back on the actual benefits.
However, moderate Republicans and those representing states with many constituents dependent on Medicaid have been uneasy.
All but two Senate Republicans supported the amendment. Senators John Curtis (R-Utah) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) were against it.
The amendment marked the beginning of an extensive sequence of votes known as a vote-a-rama, anticipated to continue well past midnight into early Saturday morning.
Although the Medicaid amendment was introduced by Republicans, most of the proposals are anticipated to come from Democrats aiming to force their Republican colleagues to take positions on several challenging matters.
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