House Speaker Mike Johnson stands firm on Medicaid reform, asserting that proposed changes under President Trump won't cut benefits but encourage personal responsibility.

House Republicans narrowly passed Trump’s tax bill, featuring $625 billion in Medicaid cuts with work requirements. Speaker Mike Johnson called the Medicaid changes “commonsense” and said millions won’t lose coverage unless they choose.

The senator’s sarcasm-tinged response to controversy complicates Republican efforts to downplay their bill’s effects on Americans’ Medicaid coverage.

Iowa Democrat J.D. Scholten has announced that he is entering the 2026 race for Republican Senator Joni Ernst 's seat. The decision was "prompted in part" by controversial remarks Ernst made about possible Medicaid cuts, ABC News reported. Newsweek contacted Scholten and Ernst for comment on Tuesday via email outside regular office hours.

I wasn’t planning on doing this right now but I just can’t sit on the sidelines,” J.D. Scholten said after Sen. Joni Ernst caused a furor with her comments.