President Donald Trump's new spending bill could help the rich and hurt the poor, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
The office found that the bill would cut federal support for Medicaid by $698 billion and reduce funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program—also known as food stamps—by $267 billion.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the legislation could strip more than 8 million people of their Medicaid coverage over the next decade.
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The analysis indicated that these cuts would decrease the resources of the lowest 10% of earners by 2% of their income from 2020 to 2027. Meanwhile, the highest 10% of earners would see a 4% boost in their income during that same period due to tax breaks.
The Congressional Budget Office says that the would cause an increase in the federal deficit of $3.8 trillion. That would be due to extending tax cuts implemented in 2017 past this year, among other changes.
House Democrats pounced on the analysis as soon as it was released.
“The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office’s unprecedented analysis has confirmed what Democrats have known to be true — the GOP Tax Scam will hurt working families the most while delivering massive tax breaks for billionaires like Elon Musk,” said Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries. “Any claims otherwise are intentionally deceptive regarding the Republican plans to rip healthcare away from nearly 14 million Americans and take food out of the mouths of millions of people, including children and seniors."
Republicans say the changes are needed to reduce waste and abuse in government.
"We want to strengthen Medicare," President Trump said.
This analysis does not include changes to the bill that are still being negotiated.
