In a stunning display of callous disregard for their constituents, three New Jersey Republicans—Congressmen Tom Kean Jr., Jeff Van Drew, and Chris Smith—voted late Tuesday night to pass a federal budget resolution that slashes Medicaid funding, a move economists warn will endanger the lives of thousands of vulnerable Garden State residents.
The vote, which passed the House by a razor-thin margin of 217-215, lays the groundwork for devastating cuts to the social safety net while funneling trillions in tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy and corporations.
The budget resolution, a cornerstone of President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda, sets the stage for $4.5 trillion in tax cuts and $2 trillion in federal spending reductions over the next decade.
Among the most alarming provisions is the proposed $1 trillion cut to Medicaid, a program that provides essential health care coverage to low-income families, seniors, and individuals with disabilities.
In New Jersey alone, over 1.7 million residents rely on Medicaid, including 40,000 in Kean’s district and 130,000 in Van Drew’s.
“Tonight, Congressmen Tom Kean Jr., Jeff Van Drew, and Chris Smith voted to pass a budget that will raise costs for Americans while giving trillions in handouts to the ultra-wealthy,” said Lisa McCormick, a progressive activist who challenged former Senator Bob Menendez in the 2018 Democratic primary. “President Donald Trump and House Republicans said they would spend the next two years cutting costs for the middle class. But the only thing they are cutting is nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid.”
McCormick, who is organizing a grassroots effort to pressure New Jersey’s representatives to reverse course, warned that the budget will have catastrophic consequences for the state’s most vulnerable residents.
“The Republican budget will make people sicker and poorer,” she said. “It will force even more families to live paycheck to paycheck while giving the wealthiest Americans a windfall big enough to buy a new private jet.”
Despite Van Drew’s claims that the resolution does not cut Medicaid, experts and fact-checkers have debunked his assertions.
The budget framework explicitly calls for massive reductions in federal spending, with Medicaid and other social programs squarely in the crosshairs.
Van Drew’s statement that the resolution is “non-binding” and does not affect Medicaid benefits is a blatant attempt to mislead constituents.
In reality, the resolution is the first step in a process that will enable Republicans to push through deep cuts to health care, food assistance, and other critical programs.
“Cutting Medicaid is so egregious that even Donald Trump on the campaign trail promised not to touch it,” said Congresswoman Sarah Jacobs (D-Calif.), who voted against the resolution. “He lied. The proposed cuts are deeply unpopular, and not just with Democrats—because millions of Americans of all political persuasions rely on Medicaid to get the health care they need without going broke.”
The vote capped a chaotic evening in the House, where Republican leaders held open an unrelated vote for over an hour to strong-arm holdouts into supporting the resolution.
After initially pulling the measure from the floor, they reversed course just 10 minutes later, securing the votes needed to pass the budget.
The dramatic turnaround was a victory for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and House GOP leaders, who faced fierce opposition from deficit hawks, hardliners, and moderates concerned about the impact of slashing social programs.
For New Jersey’s Republican representatives, the vote represents a betrayal of their constituents’ trust.
Kean, Van Drew, and Smith have repeatedly claimed to support protecting Medicaid and other critical programs, yet their actions Tuesday night tell a different story.
By falling into line with dictates of right-wing extremists on a budget that prioritizes tax cuts for the wealthy over the health and well-being of their own constituents, they have shown where their true loyalties lie.
“Republicans are dead serious about slashing social spending and obliterating the government’s ability to protect consumers from greedy corporations,” McCormick said. “GOP leaders have been passing around a list of $5.7 trillion in cuts that can be made over ten years by starving programs that support health care and food assistance for about one-third of all Americans.”
As the budget heads to the Senate, advocates are urging New Jersey residents to hold their representatives accountable. McCormick’s planned meeting on March 15 aims to mobilize local residents to pressure Kean, Van Drew, and Smith to reverse course and support Medicare for All, a policy that would save over $600 billion annually while ensuring universal health care coverage.
“Although Democrats stood united against the House Republican budget, it’s urgent that we demand the do-nothing politicians fix our broken system,” McCormick said. “It’s not enough to be against the Republican savagery if do-nothing Democrats are going to take dirty money from special interests and fail to make government a force for good.”
For the thousands of New Jersey residents who rely on Medicaid, the stakes could not be higher. The Republican budget is not just a political maneuver—it is a life-and-death issue.
As for Kean, Van Drew, and Smith, their vote Tuesday night will be remembered as a shameful abdication of their duty to protect the people they were elected to serve.