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Rep. Krishnamoorthi slams GOP push to cut social safety nets
“Slashing the budgets of these critical lifelines will not magically eliminate inefficiencies,” he said.
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Malvika Choudhary - Fri, 09, May 2025
- 14:52 EDT
- 113
Raja Krishnamoorthi / YouTube/ Raja Krishnamoorthi
Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) denounced Republican efforts to significantly reduce funding for essential social safety net programs, including Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
During a House Oversight Subcommittee hearing on Health Care and Financial Services, Krishnamoorthi pointedly critiqued recent proposals from Congressional Republicans and President Donald Trump advocating for over $1.1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and SNAP.
Also Read: Rep. Bera slams GOP for gutting Medicaid
He emphasized that such reductions would disproportionately affect vulnerable populations, stripping millions of Americans—and many in Illinois—of access to healthcare and food assistance.
“Slashing the budgets of these critical lifelines will not magically eliminate inefficiencies,” Krishnamoorthi said in his opening remarks. “What it will do is inflict real, immediate harm on our constituents. No matter if they live in red states or blue states.”
He warned that such cuts would have dire consequences, saying, “Children will go to bed hungry. Seniors will forgo lifesaving medications. Hardworking families... will face the agonizing choice between paying rent and putting food on the table.”
Drawing from personal experience, the ranking member of the subcommittee, Krishnamoorthi recounted his family's reliance on housing assistance and food stamps after immigrating to the U.S. when he was just four months old.
“These programs sustained my parents until my father got a great job in, of all places, Peoria, Illinois,” he noted. “My parents realized the American Dream, and they never took it for granted. I haven’t either.”
During the hearing, Krishnamoorthi also challenged testimonies from Republican witnesses, including former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson. He criticized Carson for perpetuating negative narratives about anti-poverty programs and highlighted a past statement where Carson referred to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) as “the worst thing that has happened in this nation since slavery” . Krishnamoorthi countered by noting that the ACA has provided healthcare access to 65 million Americans.
Furthermore, Krishnamoorthi pointed out the inconsistency in advocating for cuts to social programs while supporting substantial tax breaks and subsidies for large corporations. He cited a Cato Institute study indicating that corporate welfare costs the federal government $181 billion annually and referenced a Wall Street Journal article estimating that tariffs imposed during Trump's administration cost American households at least $2,100 per year, reducing household income by 2.1 percent.
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