Northern Virginia Congressman Gerry Connolly issued a scathing statement attacking the Trump/GOP budget plan today. Here is the text of his remarks:
By U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly
Donald Trump and House Republicans promised to lower costs for American families. But the new House Republican budget, which the House will consider this week, will raise costs for families across Northern Virginia and rip health care away from millions of Americans, all to pay for tax breaks for Elon Musk and his billionaire friends.
Take a look at what their budget plans would mean for our community: Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, tens of millions of Americans can afford high-quality health care. House Democrats built on the Affordable Care Act over the last few years, delivering lower prices and expanding coverage.
Under the Republican budget plan, however, the 36,000 people who receive coverage under the Affordable Care Act in VA-11 would see their average premium go up by $1,200 per year – a 68% increase.
Many families would face even steeper consequences. A 60-year-old couple with a household income of $85,000 in VA-11 would see their health insurance costs increase by $10,724 per year – a 148% increase in premiums.
Additionally, nearly 80 million Americans receive health care through Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which provide critical care throughout all stages of life. Medicaid covers everything from childbirth to nursing home care and everything in between.
In VA-11, the 50,744 people on Medicaid are at risk of losing their health care under Republican budget plans.
This includes 21,705 children under the age of 19 and 5,101 seniors over 65 in Fairfax County, alone.
Donald Trump and House Republicans are already failing to deliver lower costs for families across the country. Egg prices alone are at record highs, with the price for a dozen eggs reaching $10 or more in certain areas.
With many American families struggling to put food on the table, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program provides critical support for more than 40 million Americans including children, seniors, veterans, and working parents.
Extreme Republican budget plans threaten the 9,358 people in Fairfax who count on SNAP to put food on the table.
The Republican budget inflicts unnecessary pain at a time when families can’t afford it. The latest inflation report shows that prices are rising fast, despite Donald Trump’s empty promises:
- Prices at the grocery store are up, as meat, chicken, fish and dairy products are all more expensive.
- Eggs prices skyrocketed – increasing by more than 15% in just one month.
- The cost of medical care is also up – prescription drug prices increased by 2.5% and hospital and physician service costs rose as well.
- Used car and truck prices are up, as is the cost of car insurance.
- Gas prices increased by almost 2%.
Instead of taking steps that would actually help tamper rising costs, President Trump and Elon Musk are indiscriminately gutting programs Americans rely on – cancer research, childcare facilities, community health centers and more. And Trump’s tariffs threaten to raise costs even more on necessities like housing, food, and medicine.
In the face of these rising costs, what do House Republicans have to offer? Over four trillion dollars in tax cuts for the wealthy that will balloon the deficit, driving costs even higher and hurting American families.
House Democrats will fight this cruel and dangerous budget proposal every step of the way. If just three House Republicans can find their courage and stand with us, we can protect American families and stop this budget betrayal in its tracks.
