Everyone warned the GOP that the MAGA Murder Budget – excuse me, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” – was going to be devastating to Americans struggling to afford health care. 15 months later, it’s clear those warnings should have been heeded. Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program enrollment have fallen by five million already, and with the paperwork requirements coming into force in January, we anticipate that between 5 and 10 million people will be cut off Medicaid in 2027. 450 hospitals are at risk of closing or cutting services, as are more than 550 nursing homes. The coverage losses could cause more than 42,000 Americans to lose their lives every year. (Meanwhile, the wealthiest 1% are getting a trillion dollar tax cut.)

Every Republican who made this possible should be held accountable. But the responsibility falls most heavily on those in the GOP who openly acknowledged the dangers of Medicaid cuts, sought to score political points by promising to oppose them, and then provided necessary votes to make them happen anyway.

Last April, as Trump and congressional leaders fought to put together this legislation, a dozen so-called “moderate” Republicans publicly warned they would not vote for a budget reconciliation bill that cut Medicaid too deeply – or as they put it, “any reduction in Medicaid coverage for vulnerable populations.” They expressed their strong support for the program, highlighted the risk to hospitals and nursing homes, and solemnly pledged to protect “those who depend on these benefits from health and economic security.”

They got themselves some nice headlines and burnished their all-important sensible centrist credentials. Then just a few weeks later, they meekly folded. Leadership ultimately included more than $900 billion in Medicaid cuts, and every one of them quietly fell in line and voted yay.

The final bill passed the House on a 218-214 vote. Two of these 12 joining the nays would have stopped it. And any single one of them voting no would have blocked initial passage of the murder budget through the House in May. They had all the power in the world to keep their promise and protect Americans on Medicaid, and they sold us out.

Millions of us are going to pay the price. We’ve got to make sure there’s a cost for them, too.

Two of them are out of reach: Don Bacon is retiring rather than face the people of Omaha again, and redistricting put Young Kim in the same district as fellow Republican Ken Calvert, who didn’t even bother pretending he would stand with us. We have a chance to unseat the other ten members of the Medicaid Betrayers Caucus Tuesday, and most of them are in serious trouble. Let’s join the fight and help take them down. We can find volunteer opportunities below, and images we can share on social media here.

🎯 ROB BRESNAHAN (PA-08) is facing Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti. We can phonebank for the mayor Wednesday, 5:30-7PM ET; Thursday, 6-8PM ET; Saturday, 10-11:30AM ET and 2-4PM ET and Sunday, 12-3PM ET.

🎯 JUAN CISCOMANI (AZ-06) is facing Marine veteran and non-profit leader JoAnna Mendoza. We can phonebank for JoAnna tonight, 7-19M ET; Wednesdays, 7-10PM ET; Thursdays, 7-9PM ET; Saturday, 3-5PM and 7-9PM and Sunday, 1-9PM ET.

🎯  ANDREW GARBARINO (NY-02) is facing former Suffolk County executive Pat Halpin. We can phonebank for Pat Tuesday through Sunday, 5-7:30PM ET.

🎯 JEFF HURD (CO-03) is facing Bronze Star winning Army veteran, business owner and former city councilor and director of state economic development Dwayne Romero. We can phonebank for Dwayne Tuesdays, 7:30-10PM ET; Wednesdays, 7:30-10PM ET; Thursdays, 7:30-10PM ET and Saturdays, 5-7:30PM ET.

🎯 JEN KIGGANS (VA-02) is facing former congresswoman Elaine Luria. We can phonebank for Rep. Luria tonight through Sunday, 6-8PM ET.

🎯 NICK LALOTA (NY-01) is facing Army National Guard veteran, air traffic controller and union leader Chris Gallant. We can phonebank for Chris tonight and Thursday 6-8PM ET and make calls in Spanish Wednesday, 6-8PM ET.

🎯 NICOLE MALLIOTAKIS (NY-11) is facing NYPD officer, attorney and legislative staffer Mike DeCillis. We can phonebank for Mike tonight and Thursdays, 6-8PM ET.

🎯 DAVID VALADAO (CA-22) is facing educator and Working Families Party progressive Randy Villegas. We can phonebank for Randy Wednesday, 6-8PM ET; Thursday, 8:30-10:30PM ET; Friday, 9-11PM ET; Saturday, 6-8PM ET; Sunday, 3-5PM ET and 6-8PM ET and in Spanish on Wednesdays, 8:30-10:30PM ET.

🎯 JEFF VAN DREW (NJ-02) is facing Cape May mayor Zack Mullock. We can phonebank for the Mayor tonight, 5-7PM ET and 6-8PM ET; Wednesday, 5-7PM ET and 6-8PM ET; Thursday, 5-7PM ET and 6-8PM ET; Fridays, 5-7PM ET; Saturday, 12-3PM ET and Sundays, 12-3PM ET.

🎯 ROB WITTMAN (VA-01) is facing Henrico County Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor. We can phonebank for Shannon Wednesday-Friday, 5:30-7:30PM ET and Saturday and Sunday, 10AM-6PM ET

The last midterms update from BTRTN, covering the latest on both the House and the Senate.

Trump has made it clear from the beginning that he has no intention of respecting the results of a wave election. On Friday, he demonstrated how he’ll try to stop us, as the DoJ filed suit (as the President ordered) to preemptively block former congresswoman Mary Peltola from taking office if she wins a Senate seat in Alaska. Their argument is that the presence of independent candidate Daniel J. Sullivan on the ballot with incumbent Republican Dan S. Sullivan (who will be clearly marked as such) is so confusing it undermines the integrity of the election, and the courts should stop the certification of the results if Peltola beats the incumbent by fewer votes than the independent earned.

To be clear, legally this case is garbage, and we should not anticipate it succeeding. But it’s also unprecedented, and a scary harbinger of even more aggressive and open rejection of Democratic victories to come.

Ultimately, the last and best line of defense against election subversion is our refusal to continue with business as usual if the results of the vote are ignored. (Find some steps we can take now to prepare for this outcome here and a flash training on what a rapid-response moment will take below!) But perhaps the second best in a country that prides itself on its democracy is making the election too big to rig. Institutional actors will be far more inclined to stand with us the more ridiculous we make Trump’s claims of fraud look, and even his own DoJ acknowledged here that if Peltola’s margin of victory is large enough this specific lawsuit is meaningless.

So let’s start the response to Trump’s effort to hijack the Senate by helping Mary Peltola get enough support to neutralize the DoJ. ☎️ Her campaign is a great fit for the night owls out there – we can phonebank for her directly from 8-11PM ET every weeknight this week and from 1PM-1AM ET on Saturday and Sunday by signing up here and here. We can also join Progressive Victory for extended calling hours, running through midnight ET on weeknights here.

None of the Indiana races have been on anyone’s radar this cycle, which is understandable considering we’re a very Trump friendly place, but we’ve got some interesting stuff happening in a few of them including this one in district 5, where Victoria Spartz is only ahead of challenger JD Ford by around 3 points. This is an area Trump won in 2024 by 19 points:

https://www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/elections/2026/10/27/new-poll-spartz-in-close-race-with-democratic-challenger-in-indianas-5th/92441978007/

After the midterms, Trump will still be President with the power of veto.

1. What can change if #VA01 elects Shannon Taylor?
2. What will Congress definitely have to deal with?
3. What have House Dems committed to doing?

Today's Wittman Watch newsletter lays it all out.