MAGA warriors have sounded the alarm over plans by Congress to push through a huge round of health spending before Donald Trump takes office.
The year-end spending bill would reportedly reauthorize a slew of health care programs and add regulation for pharmacy benefit managers.
But with Trump building an administration intent on upending the status quo, allies are warning House Speaker Mike Johnson against anything that would undermine their efforts to overhaul the sector.
Rogan O’Handley, who posts as DC Draino, an influential rightwing account, posted: ‘Hey @SpeakerJohnson. Did you see this? Asking for 77 million Trump voters!’
Trump has signaled his intent to shake up health care by appointing environmental lawyer and vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr to the portfolio.
At the same time, the new Department of Government Efficiency is believed to have plans to slash trillions in spending from Medicare and Medicaid.
Yet, a new round of healthcare spending is one of the bargaining chips in play as Congress tries to find a compromise resolution that would keep government funded beyond a December 20 deadline and into March.
The result is a string of influential Trump world voices warning Johnson that it cannot be ‘business as usual’ before the president-elect is sworn in.
‘Why is Johnson considering giving Joe Biden a legislative victory or a Christmas present right before Trump takes over?’ asked a Republican strategist.
‘The speaker has rightly said that Republicans are better off waiting until President Trump is in office to gain leverage on any negotiations. What changed?
‘We should be focused on giving President Trump a clear runway to make America healthy again and do away with this business as usual, big government nonsense.’
Trump has yet to weigh in on the issue.
But with pressure building, it suggests there could be a fight to keep the government open beyond the deadline at the end of the week.
Critics see the plans as a big win for the Biden administration and Big Pharma.
Among the plans are an extension of rules allowing employers to cover telehealth for patients in certain plans, plus another five years of allowing patients to receive hospital care in their homes.
Reporting by Politico said the text of the deal was not final and could still change.
Yet the content of the package is much broader and more expensive than many people expected at the start of negotiations.
‘How much does this monstrosity cost? asked Joe Grogan, who chaired the Domestic Policy Council in Trump’s first administration.
‘Trump was elected overwhelmingly to stop DC’s insane business as usual swamp crapola which has bankrupted this country and screwed up healthcare enough to make a Kremlin basement bureaucrat blush.’
Natalie Winters, a reporter for Steve Bannon’s War Room, made a direct appeal to Johnson to stop
‘We voted to drain the swamp, not increase big pharma hegemony and embolden lobbyists,’ she posted.
‘Help stop this.’