Rep. Rob Wittman, R-1st, and Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-2nd, say they will not support the budget bill that House Republicans are preparing to carry out President Donald Trump’s political agenda if it cuts health care coverage that vulnerable Virginians receive under Medicaid.
Wittman and Kiggans, whom Democrats have targeted in congressional midterm elections next year, joined 10 other Republican representatives in a letter to House GOP leadership this week that declares their opposition to potentially deep cuts in the federal-state program that provides health care to elderly, disabled and poor Virginians.
“Balancing the federal budget must not come at the expense of those who depend on these benefits for their health and economic security,” they state in a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and other House GOP leaders.
The Republican representatives, facing re-election in political swing districts, said they support “targeted reforms” to improve the program, reduce improper payments and modernize its delivery to ensure that federal dollars go to care for the people who depend on Medicaid.
“However, we cannot and will not support a final reconciliation bill that includes any reduction in Medicaid coverage for vulnerable populations,” they state.
The letter represents an about-face for Wittman and Kiggans, who voted for the House budget resolution that would require an $880 billion cut over 10 years in federal programs under the House Energy and Commerce Committee as part of a more-than-$1.5 trillion reduction in spending. The Congressional Budget Office said last month those cuts could not be achieved without reducing benefits under Medicaid or the Medicare program that primarily serves elderly Americans.
Both Virginia representatives also voted for a Senate amendment to the budget resolution earlier this month that proposes $1.5 trillion in spending cuts over 10 years, while not accounting for an additional $4.5 trillion in the budget deficit from extending tax cuts adopted in 2017 during Trump’s first term that are set to expire at the end of the year. The House resolution seeks to cut as much as $2 trillion to partly offset the increase in the federal deficit.
Wittman on Trump
Wittman, an 18-year House veteran whose district includes parts of Henrico, Chesterfield and Hanover counties, is politically conservative, but he recently has expressed concern publicly over elements of Trump’s agenda, including efforts to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education.
He’s also questioned cuts proposed by Elon Musk and the “Department of Government Efficiency” to research funding at Virginia Commonwealth University, which awarded Wittman a doctorate in public health in 2002.
Virginia advocates for protecting Medicaid welcomed the letter, but said it does not allay concerns that cuts in federal spending will trigger the reversal of the program’s expansion at the beginning of 2019 under the Affordable Care Act. The expansion, which the General Assembly adopted and Gov. Ralph Northam signed in 2018, included a “kill switch” to reverse the expansion if the federal government reduced its share of the costs by more than 1%.
Wittman questions gutting of U.S. Department of Education
Reversing the program’s expansion would result in an estimated 630,000 Virginians losing their benefits unless the state decides to make up the costs that the federal government does not pay.
“Notably absent from the list of people Rep. Wittman highlights as ‘vulnerable’ in his remarks are working adults, parents, and adults between jobs,” said Freddy Mejia, policy director at The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis, a left-leaning policy organization based in Richmond. “Medicaid expansion covers all of these groups, as well as many individuals with disabilities.”
Mejia said the letter’s commitments “ultimately fall short” of what Wittman and Kiggans’ constituents “are asking for: No funding cuts to Medicaid and Medicaid expansion, and no additional red tape to coverage.”
Rep. Bobby Scott, D-3rd, senior member of Virginia’s congressional delegation, will feature a new Commonwealth Institute report on Medicaid at a public roundtable in Hampton on Thursday that will focus on potential cuts to the program.
The letter drew different reactions from Virginia members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-9th, said: “The House Energy and Commerce Committee is finalizing what we need to do as instructed by the budget resolution that Congress passed. I believe that upon seeing the final product, the signers of the letter will support the Energy and Commerce portion of reconciliation.”
Rep. Jennifer McClellan, D-4th, whose district includes Richmond and parts of Henrico and Chesterfield counties, said Wednesday, “I’m glad to see my Republican colleagues voice support for Medicaid, but I am perplexed by their recent votes to advance a budget that the Congressional Budget Office says will require devastating Medicaid cuts — cuts that impact hundreds of thousands of Virginians in Mr. Wittman and Mrs. Kiggans’ districts who are covered by Virginia’s expansion.
“With a narrow House majority, their votes will determine if these Virginians keep their care and if hospitals stay open,” McClellan said.
‘Feeling heat’
Bob Holsworth, a veteran political analyst in Richmond, said the letter poses a major challenge to Johnson, who already faces criticism from members of the House Freedom Caucus, who say the Senate budget framework would not cut federal domestic spending enough.
“It’s just a real challenge in front of the Speaker and the President,” he said. “You have two separate groups concerned about the bill from entirely different vantage points.”
Politically, Holsworth said, the letter reflects mounting pressure on Wittman and Kiggans from Democrats furious about Trump and Musk’s assault on the federal workforce and spending with little resistance from Republicans in Congress.
“Clearly, the Republicans are feeling some heat here,” he said. “I think there is some concern about what happens in Virginia’s 2025 elections and what does that mean for 2026,” when members of Congress face re-election.
In 2024 Wittman beat Democrat Leslie Mehta by nearly 13 percentage points. Kiggans topped Democrat Missy Cotter Smasal by about 4 percentage points.
Eight years ago, during Trump’s first term, Democrats used Republican resistance to Medicaid expansion to sweep the races for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general, and nearly eliminate the 16-seat advantage that the GOP held in the House of Delegates. The next year, Democrats flipped three congressional seats held by Republicans, as Democrats Abigail Spanberger, Jennifer Wexton and Elaine Luria won in the 7th, 10th and 2nd districts. Spanberger is now the Democratic nominee for governor after three terms in Congress.
“There’s a concern about a repeat,” Holsworth said.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee recently targeted Wittman and Kiggans in midterm elections next year. Spokesman Justin Chermol dismissed the letter as “meaningless.”
“Actions speak louder than words,” Chermol said on Wednesday. “Rob Wittman and Jen Kiggans know they voted to greenlight a disastrous budget blueprint that would decimate Medicaid to fund trillions in tax breaks for Elon Musk and their billionaire donors.”