Maine U.S. Reps. Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden voted Tuesday night against a Republican budget blueprint that paves the way for massive tax cuts by slashing other programs, including health care.
The blueprint calls for $4.8 trillion in tax cuts and spending increases while also increasing the federal deficit by more than half that amount.
Pingree and Golden say the plan's spending cuts are likely to include reductions to Medicaid, the health program for low-income residents used by nearly 20% of Mainers. They also argued that the tax cuts will overwhelmingly benefit high earners and corporations.
Both voted against the budget resolution, which Republicans narrowly passed after flipping GOP holdouts who were initially concerned about Medicaid and food stamp cuts.
Passage of the bill is the first step toward green-lighting President Trump's legislative agenda, but many more steps in the process remain.
