NEW ORLEANS (news agencies) — Democrats used a Louisiana town hall Thursday night to preview one of their main strategies for attempting to retake the U.S. House next year, ripping into the health care changes in the just-passed Republican tax and spending bill.
The top House Democrat, Hakeem Jeffries, said the event in the home state of House Speaker Mike Johnson was the first stop on a nationwide tour to educate voters about the bill, which he called “an all-out assault against the American people.” He also noted that Republicans had promised not to touch Medicaid, the government health insurance program for lower-income Americans.
“And during the first chance they got, they do the exact opposite,” Jeffries told a crowd of several hundred at Xavier University in New Orleans. “Shame on them.”
The gathering of some of the top House Democrats comes at a crucial time for the party. It is seeking a pathway back to power in Washington but is grappling for a message that will resonate with the working class voters who have migrated toward Republicans in recent elections.
Democratic leaders believe the bill, which President Donald Trump signed into law on the Fourth of July, will sway voters ahead of the 2026 midterms, when Democrats look to win control of the House and break the hold Republicans have on the levers of power in Washington.
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida said Thursday’s event was “step one” in Democrats’ strategy to “make sure people are aware of what they’re losing and who took it away from them.”
But another congresswoman laid bare one of their challenges. Rep. Robin Kelly of Illinois said as she has been meeting with constituents, it’s become clear that most of them don’t know what’s in the bill or how it might affect them.
The measure includes about $4.5 trillion in tax breaks by extending cuts made during Trump’s first term, mostly benefiting the wealthiest Americans, and adding new ones that include no taxes on tips. It also slashes clean energy tax credits and unleashes hundreds of billions of dollars for Trump’s national security agenda, including for border patrol and deportations.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates 11.8 million adults and children are at risk of losing their health insurance under the bill, which over time will make it harder to enroll in federal health care programs, including Medicaid and others created by President Barack Obama’sAffordable Care Act. Additionally, it estimated 3 million Americans will no longer qualify for food stamps, also known as SNnews agencies benefits.
The legislation reduces federal Medicaid spending by $1 trillion.
“All so Republicans can give trillions of dollars in tax breaks to billionaires and the biggest corporations,” said Democratic Rep. Troy Carter, who represents much of New Orleans. “It is, in fact, reverse Robinhood — stealing from the poor to give to the rich.”
Democrats chose Louisiana as the site of their town hall to highlight the impact of those cuts. It’s the home state of Johnson and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise.
Louisiana is among the states expected to lose one-fifth of its Medicaid budget over the next decade as a result of the bill. An estimated 1.5 million people in the state are enrolled in the health care program, and the policies could increase the uninsured population by more than 200,000, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. In Johnson’s own district, the foundation found that some 38% of the residents are enrolled in Medicaid.
Most of the health care changes in the bill, including the new Medicaid work requirements on certain adults, will not begin until after next year’s elections, though a number of providers are already beginning to prepare for potential cutbacks.
Carter said 33 rural hospitals in the state are at risk of closing.
